RELIABLE 
POULTRY 

REMEDIES 




^\ 



Poultryman^s Hand-Book of 
Tried -and -Proved Remedies 
for the Common Diseases of 
Poultry, ...,.., 



SIXTH EDITION 



S F 



:PK.I0E, 25 OEIsTTS. 



published by the 

Reliable Poultry Journal Publishing Company, 

QuiNCY, Illinois. 




Class __^ 
Book_ 



-^ -. ^ 



Copyright 11^. 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



LiSRAh'Y ot 00NSSE8S 
Two Ooptes tiocttiYM 

MAR 22 1905 
Oopynxm ci)U> 

ouass ^ XXc No; 
COPY B. 



copyright by 

Reliable Poultry Journal Publishixg Co. 

March 1, 1905, 

QUINCY, ILLINOIS. 



RELIABLE 



POULTRY REMEDIES 



POULTRYMAN'S HAND-BOOK 



TRIED-AND-PROVED REMEDIES FOR THE COMMON 
DISEASES OF POULTRY. 



SIXTH EDITION. 



PRICE, TWEINTY-FIVE CENTS. 



PUBLISHED BY THE 

re;liable poultry journal publishing co. 

\\ QUINCY, ILLINOIS, 



INTRODUCTION. 






i 



THIS little book was first published more especially for the benefit 
of the friends and patrons of the Reliable Poultry Journal, It 
was not put forth as a money-making scheme, except as a time- 
sa,ver. We were led to publish it on account of the hundreds of 
letters received each year from readers of the Journal, asking for advice 
and help in the care and treatment of their poultty, both in hdalth and 
sickness, and owing to our inability to give them in the short space of a 
"reply by mail" the help they needed. It is hoped this book w'ill be of 
real service to them. In later editions the size of the pages has been 
materially increased, still they are but half as large as the regular size 
of the other books issued by this company, because of the greater con- 
venience in handling this sized book in the dhicken yard. 

A number of remedies given for the same disease need not confuse 
any one. A physician knows of several remedies, one of which may be 
better than the others, but in its absence he uses another with more or 
less success. So in doctoring sick chicks and fowls, use whichever rem- 
edy is at hand. Time is often an important factor in a cure. 

We expect to continue to revise and re-issue RELIABLE POULTRY 
REMEDIES from time to time, with a view to improving it, and we ask 
the co-operation of interested persons. Reports, therefore, of your suc- 
cess in applying the remedies given in this edition, also new remedies 
that you have tried and found to be good, will be much appreciated. 

Fraternally yours, 
RELIABLE POULTRY JOURNAL PUB. CO. 

Quincy, 111., April 1, 1901. 



STANDARD POULTRY BOOKS. 



In the back pages of this book will be found a description of 
the other books published by this company and of the American 
Standard of Perfection. We present this list of books with pleas- 
ure and confidence — pleasure that we can serve our friends and 
patrons, confidence that in these books we have given to the 
public the best thoughts and experience of the leading authori- 
ties on the different subjects. To the beginner the books treat- 
ing of the subjects most interesting to him, will be almost inval- 
uable, while even the veteran in the poultry business will find 
much to interest him and we doubt not, some new knowledge. 



PREVENTION AND CURE OF POULTRY DISEASES. 



An Exhaustive Treatise on the Diseases Common to Fowls, both Old and Young, with 
Causes, Symptoms, Treatment and Remedies. 



DR. N. W. SANBORN. 

IN RECENT years we have been handling poultry ailments from the 
wrong end. Too many times we have sought a remedy for a disease 
when we should liave learned the cause that produced the condi- 
tion so as to avoid it in the future. For every inch of space given 
in poultry journals to prevention, one hundred have been devoted 
to remedies and cures. This is wrong. There is more saitisfaction and 
profit in keeping healthy poultry than in curing sick birds. With sick 
birds we not only have the care and expense of the cure, but there is the 
loss of production during the time, as well as the still greaJter danger of 
having on hand birds weak in vitality when the hatching season arrives. 
The corner stone of successful poultry keeping is healthy stock. Healthy 
birds will grow well, lay satisfactorily and reproduce themselves, while 
sick birds are a source of trouble to the owner. We can only think of 
succeeding with poultry when we have learned the causes as well as 
the cures of poultry diseases. The man who is constantly asking about 
his sick birds is not getting financial returns from his plant, and prob- 
ably counts himself among those who are having "bad luck." Too many 
beginners with poultry fail because they start with birds that have not 
the vigor of well-bred stock. Too long inbred, late-hatched, weak stock 
never give good results. It does not pay to breed from a bird that shows 
a tendency to weakness, no matter how high it may score. Every breeder 
should be sure that his stock is healthy and that it was bred from heal- 
thy stock, and his chicks will have vigor. 

Inbreeding and Its Limits. 

Inbreeding may or may not be a factor in causing disease. The 
mating of two perfectly healthy birds 6an be expected to give good 
results. The danger is that both birds may have a tendency toward a 
certain diseased condition and the mating will intensify the trouble in 
the chicks. To a certain extent it is right for the poultryman to inbreed 
but the more he practices it the more sure he must 'be that he is using 
only strx)ng, well birds. The beginner in keeping hens should buy- 
fresh blood 'every year until he has learned to succeed with common 
matings. It is not necessary to "have all kinds mixed," as a woman 



6 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 

recently said to me. The day of the barnyard fowl is passed. The stan- 
dard-bred bird of to-day is stronger and gives more eggs and pounds cf 
meat than did the bird of our childhood. Every fancier can help along 
the bird of his choice by keeping it high in strength and vigor. Study 
your birds. Learn their weak points and strive to overcome them. 
Much has been done along this line, but there is yet much undone. The 
fancier deserves more praise for what he has done in successful poultry 
keeping than has generally been given him. Let not the utility breeder 
despise the fancier, for they are more nearly related than they think. See 
what has been done with the horse and cow in past years, and let us 
not be satisfied with the hen until we have attained as good results. 
Inbreeding is a subject that has attracted a deal of attention and there 
has been much contention over the questions involved. Volumes have 
been written and the ground gone over thoroughly, yet the last word to 
be written seems far in the future. 

Care Required in Feeding. 

Wrong feeding is another prolific factor in producing disease. The 
best stock, if fed incorrectly, will give only indifferent results and is 
sure to develop some form of sickness. There is no "best ration" to 
suit all breeds, all ages, all seasons or conditions. Along the line of 
careful study in poultr5'' feeding very little has been done. Here and 
there a breeder has done good work, but it has been lost because not 
reduced to writing. Experiment stations seem to have forgotten that 
the poultry industry produces more wealth than any other branch of 
agriculture. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been expended on 
the study of cows and their feeding (well spent, too), but time and 
money should have been given to the investigation of poultry. Stations 
in New York, Utah and especially in Rhode Island, are to be commended 
for the good already accomplished and for the pr'omise they give to 
devote more time to this important economic subject. Rhode Island is 
not only working out these proiblems and putting them in print, but Is 
also impressing them directly upon the minds of poultrymen through its 
winter class in "poultry culture." 

Right feeding will eliminate much sickness. Overfeeding Induces 
a plethoric condition of the bird which is liable to be followed by indi- 
gestion. On the contrary, the giving of a ration insufficient in food 
value produces an anaemic state of body which furnishes a goiod breed- 
ing ground for disease. The use of a diet lacking in any of the elements 
needed to sustain life and produce paying results, or the feeding of a 
ration in which an over supply of one of the elements is given, disar- 
ranges the animal economy and brings dangerous results from a health- 
ful standpoint. Feeding a strictly grain diet, without any bulky food, 
will in time tell upon the bodily condition of the bird. Fortunately a 
bird with half a chance will manage to find waste of some kind, even 
though it be old leaves or chaff. A hen needs "filling" just as much as 
a cow, and it is as much common sense teaching to advocate the giving 
of 'Clover hay to one as the other. 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 7 

Necessity of Grit. 
Another pitfall to healthy poultry is a lack of grinding material. To 
give good grain to your birds and then have it wasted because they can 
not find sharp grit to grind it with is poor economy. A short time ago 
I saw a tlock of four-months-old chicks dying because they were unable 
to reach grit. In some sections of the country there is little available 
grit, and it is important to health as well as to profit that grinding mate- 
rial be supplied. Some of the so-called cases of cholera are simply indi- 
gestion and diarrhoea from lack of grit. 

Impure Water a Disease Breeder. 

Impure water is a cause of many sick birds. All birds drinking bad 
water do not become sick. If they did, the letters to poultry editors ask- 
ing what to do "for my sick birds" would be too many to answer. Towns 
and cities known to be healthful are sure to have a pure water supply, 
and poultry plants that are known as producers of sturdy birds are care- 
ful to supply clean water. Not only must good water be given, but the 
dishes must be kept free from filth. Water is so cheap, and so easily 
given, that it seems a pity that so many seem to think it is something to 
be supplied or not. as is convenient. Hens insufficiently supplied with 
water are poor layers, and if the available water is bad they are in a 
condition to contract disease because of their lowered vitality. Filthy 
water is a good carrier of catarrh, roup and cholera germs. Cleaning 
daily the water dishes and giving fresh water diminishes the danger of 
these severe diseases getting a foot-hold. Many a promising lot of 
brooder chicks have died solely owing to being obliged to drink warm, 
filthy water, while the owner of the birds comforted himself by thinking 
that the diarrhoea must have been owing to a "cold." 

Filthy or Wet Quarters. 

Filthy brooders, houses or yards are a constant source of danger to 
any flock. To be obliged to breathe the air of a long uncleaned brooder, 
or to pick up grain or mash from a dirty floor, is to run a risk too great 
to be safe. Houses that are strong smelling from uncleaned dropping 
boards and damp, filthy floors are hotbeds of disease. Yards that are 
sticky with filth after every rain are not to be desired from a healthful 
standpoint. Filth in any form is a constant source of danger that should 
at all times be guarded against. Many of the acute diseases that take 
off whole flocks find the best conditions present in filthy surroundings. 

Excessive wet or dampness presents a favorable breeding ground 
for some diseases. The location of a poultry plant upon or even near 
wet soil is to be avoided. A hen keeps in best working condition when 
yarded and houses upon light, sandy soil. If already settled in a damp 
place something can be done by draining and filling, but there must be 
constant care to overcome the unfavorable circumstances. It ought not 
be necessary .to speak of dampness from leaky roofs, but I find too many 
pouHrymen that are careless in this respect. 

Houses need to be carefully watched at all seasons of the year, espe- 



8 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 

cially in winter, to see that no opening comes to let in water. The snow 
often dams up near the gutter and if the roof is not well covered the 
water will work in and wet both scratching material and earth floor, 
which is likely to be followed by catarrh or roup. 

When building upon hillsides see that the natural flow of surface 
water is not against the building. T have seen a house, one hundred feet 
in length, thoughtlessly placed so that in winter the water would dam 
up behind it thirty feet wide, finally working under the foundations and - 
flooding nearly all the pens. It upset all cherished plans for winter 
profit, and led, I think, to the plant being offered for sale through a real 
estate broker. Heat, moisture and filth are to blame for many failures 
in poultry keeping. Even the frost, which collects in winter under the 
roof boards and on the walls, may be the cause of trouble. There is only 
one way to avoid this serious condition of affairs. Ventilate thoroughly 
during the day, getting the house dry, and there will be little accumula- 
tion of dampness during the night. I have seen long houses built with 
single windows to each pen so damp as to cause severe colds. The burn- 
ing of oil stoves in these houses had little effect, and the moisture was 
finally overcome by cutting large doors in the front of each pen, giving 
free ventilation all day. The scratching sihed houses are seldom troubled 
by this cause of dampness. 

Cold and Heat. 

Cold and heat are important factors in the production of disease. 
Of the two, heat is more to be feared than cold, and at first thought it 
it is a strange fact that heat in winter is the cause of disease. An ordi- 
nary hen house, witb only one window to each ten feet of length, unless 
carefully aired during the day, will get so hot at noon on bright days 
as to be almost unbearable. To the hen in her winter coat this heat is 
very debilitating, and exposure to draft or cold is often followed by 
catarrh or bronchitis. It is safer to have a dry cold house than one that 
is alternately hot and cold. Better an open front and no windows than 
plenty of glass an'd close, hot air. If the hens are kept busy during the 
day scratching for grain, the exercise will give them heat, and their 
warm coat of feathers will keep from harm all birds of rose comb vari- 
eties. Some of the most healthy birds I ever saw were wintered in open 
front houses, in which the doors between the scratching and roosting 
rooms were never tightly closed. These birds during the blizzard of 
last season continued to lay as if they were unconscious of weather 
changes. A warm house is not to be desired, if it is to be had by the 
use of too much glass or close air. The close-air, warm house is the 
one that is cold at night. The shut-in damp air is a good conductor 
of heat and the warmth is rapidly radiated during the night. Birds 
exposed to the great changes of temperature l)dtween day and night 
are fit subjects to all catarrhal diseases. I would not be understood 
as advising the use of open-front houses, but between the tight front 
and the open-front house there is a medium worth seeking. The more 
glass in front, the more need of careful ventilation. 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 9 

Overheating From Crowding. 

Crowding on the roost, because of too large numbers, produces an 
overheated condition favorahle to colds, and this is as true in summer 
as in winter. Extremely low temperature will produce frosted combs 
and throw the birds off their laying. Tall-combed birds need warmer 
houses than these w'ith low combs, but warmth must never be had from 
crowded quarters or close air. Unless you can keep your birds comfort- 
able in a house without artificial heat, dispose of them and get a variety 
with comb and feathers that are safe in your climate. 
Drafts and Imperfect Ventilation. 

Drafts are a source of danger to healthy stock. A broken pane ot 
glass, or a crack in the wall, will let a current of air in on a bird that 
will do more mischief than seems possible. There is less danger from the 
breeze that miiy blow through an open shed than a draft through a 
small crack. The warmer the house and more crowded the birds, the 
sreater the danger of disease. Ventilators are the cause of many colds, 
because they are commonly arranged so that snow or rain find their way 
in on the birds. A house that is well aired during the daytime and is 
kept clean and is not crowded with birds, seldom needs any ventilation 
at night. A house that is stifling to go into in the morning generally 
needs better care of floors and dropping boards, rather than the intro- 
duction of more air. 

Too Many Chicks in a Brood. 

The crowding of chieks with the mo'ther hen or in the brooder pro- 
duces sorry results. It is seldom wise from a healthful point of view to 
put over fifty chicks in a single brooder or to give more than twenty to 
a hen. A larger number are sure to be crowded, if indeed they do not 
crowd themselves, the chicks inside the mob becoming hot and damp 
and taking cold when exposed to the outside air. This summer i saw 
one hundred and fifty chicks given to three hens, and after two weeks* 
experience the owner was glad to take my advice and remove the hens. 
The chicks crowded less Without than with the hens. Of course if it 
had been earlier in the season the chicks could not have got along with- 
out some outside heat. 

Foul Air and Filthy Quarters. 

A factor in the causation of disease is foul air. This may come from 
having too many chicks or hens for the size of the house, the air being 
breathed over and over again, and becoming more filthy the longer the 
birds are confined. Foul air may arise from uncleaned floors or drop- 
ping boards, heat increasing the danger of it. The danger from many 
of the brooders now sold is not irregular heat, but too small a provision 
for pure air. The little chicks sleep in a small chamber, in which their 
droppings accumulate, and unless abundant currents of warm air are 
introduced the air is soon unfit for use. There are many- good incuba- 
tors, but few good brooders. With chicks out in coops or boxes in the 
field, arrange so that there will be air without drafts. In no beitter way, 
can this be done than by having the fronts of all coops covered with inch 



10 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 

wire netting or laths. Foul air seems to play too important a part in 

cases of roup to be allowed to exist on the premises of any thoughtful 

I>oultryman. 

Protection From Exposure. 

Storms are a prolific cause of disease. We cannot help the rain and 
Fnow, but we must keep our birds from severe exposure. When to 
keep our birds indoors, away from falling snow or driving rain, is not 
hard to decide, but the sudden changes that come at all times of the 
year must be promptly met. It is only by constant watchfulness that our 
flock escapes illness from nature's ways. Little chicks, whether with 
hens or brooder, need oversight to avoid the effects of a sudden storm. 
Tt IS money saved to provide room enough to keep all birds indoors on 
stormy days. The loss of a brooderful of chicks or a pen of birds would 
go far toward providing ample accommbdatiion for the stock. 
Lack of Shade from Summer's Sun. 

The intense heat of summer, unless there is escape from it in some 
way, ofttimes produces trouble. On the farm the overheated bird can 
escape to the cool barn cellar or to some orchard, but on our modern 
poultry plant the bird has little choice of her own. If the division boards 
of the yards are high enough they will cast some shade for part of the 
day, but at high noon these boards are worth little for this purpose. The 
houses on the hot days are too warm to be depended! upon for retreat. 
The arranging of brush or boards in the yards will be helpful, but after 
all there is no shade like that of a tree in full leaf. The wise poultryman 
will early plan to set out trees in all his yards. For this purpose the 
apple tree seems to feel at home in the conditions that are present in 
rich soil and grass covered yards. The apple tree in the hen yard, is a 
rapid grower and comes early into bearing. Little chicks and fowls cut 
in the field, if allowed shelter from the hot sun, well repay in health and 
growth for the trouble taken to provide their retreat. 
Right Amount of Exercise. 

Exercise, too much or too little, has a bearing on health, and, what 
appeals to poultrymen, a relation to profits. If the bird has to work for 
its grain in scratching material so deep that it cannot get food enough 
for its needs, or if obliged to range too far for its food, it will never do 
its best, either in growth or egg yield. On the other hand, the bird that 
has no work to perform in getting its living is sluggish and is a poor 
layer. Leg weakness can be avoided and strength gained by proper exer- 
cise on the part of the little chicks. It is a mistake to let a hen that has 
been shut in on the nest for three weeks drag her chicks around all day. 
Much better results may be obtained by yarding and feeding them two- 
thirds of each day. The busy, bustling hen is the bird that is well and 

pays a profit. 

Care in Feeding. 

The feeding of hens bears a certdin relation to healthy stock. Not 
only the quantities of the articles fed, but also the way it is given, pro- 
duce good or bad results. All grain fed, except just at night, should be 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 11 

given in scratching material. This can be any waste hay or straw that 
is dry. If it js wet or even damp thei food will takei some of the filtk 
that will alwayr accumulate in a hen house, and filth is never to be 
desired in connection with paying poultry. Mash ought to be given la 
clean troughs or on boards. The arrangement should be such that there 
is no crowding or fighting among the birds to get the food. If the hena 
are obliged to seize a mouthful and run to some wet spot to eat it, in 
the process it will get mixed with some of the droppings and become 
undesirable for healthy poultry. 

Brooder chicks need special care in furnishing them clean food. 
Too many die from dirty food to allotw us to relax our efforts to keep 
their mash and dry grain in proper condition. Hens will stand food that 
will kill growing birds. When possible, feed all little chicks far enough 
from the house or brooder to escape most of the droppings. Never feed 
wet food on the ground or where it can be mixed w'it'h foul earth. 

High Roosts Cause Bumble Foot. 
High roosis are one cause of bumble foot. While it is "nature" for 
a hen to roost high, it is only when the grass covered ground is at hand 
that the bird is safe from danger of injury to the feet. In most cases, 
six inches above the droppings board is right. If there is a raised edge 
to the droppings board the bird can step from one to the other and then 
easily to the floor. The droppings board itself should only be high 
enough to allow room for an egg box underneath. If there is no other 
place for the birds to roost they will accept the low roost, thereby 
avoiding the dangers of one that is higher. 

Droppings Boards and Their Accumulations. 

Droppings boards should be kept clean. To allow the filth to accu- 
mulate is to furnish an atmosphere to the sleeping birds that is irritat- 
ing to the mucous surfaces of the throat and bronchial tubes. Some of 
the cases of chronic bronchitis are due to this cause. After cleaning the 
boards, sprinkle ground plaster on the surface to sweeten and keep 
sweet the boards. Ground plaster is worth its cost for the good it will 
do when applied to the garden. If unable to procure the plaster the use 
of dry earth or finely sifted coal ashes will g'ive good results. Do not 
use lime to dust the boards, as it seits free the ammon'ia contained in 
the droppings, and this is an irritant to the organs of respiration. Dur- 
ing cold snaps in winter the droppings often freeze to the boards for 
several days. Watch for the sudden thaw some warm noon, and remove 
the waste before the ammonia beg'ins to arise. Store all droppings out- 
side of any room in which birds are kept. 

Stock Weakened by Lice. 

Insects play an important part in the health of poultry. Of these 
the ordinary hen louse and red spider are most common. Chickens 
infested w*ith lice, whether from the mother hen or from a brooder, are 
always undersized, rough in plumage and easily fall a prey to disease- 
Hens troubled with lice are uneasy, restless, grow thin and do not prove 



12 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 

good layers. The sitting hen, afflicted with lice, often becomes weak, and 

her food produces looseness of the bowels. The red spider, or red mite, 

as it is often called from its size, lives in cracks of the house, under the 

roost and droppings board, or multiplies rapidly in dry droppings, and 

comes out at night to suck the blood of the birds. Wlhen birds are thus 

troubled by mites the loss of blood produces an anaemic state conducive 

to disease as well as to poor financial results. 

Poultry plants infested with lice or mites never succeed and are a 

hotbed of disease. It is possible to have sickness where there are no 

lice, but it is impossible to keep birds well on which there are lice in 

any number. It is the first duty of a poultryman to be sure that insects 

have no foothold on his place. Destroy all insects and see that none are 

introduced on new birds. Never be too sure that you are free from. lice. 

When you least expect it, some friend will show you one of your birds 

loaded with insect life. Keep at it, from one end of the year to the 

other, fighting lice, and it will be time well spent. If you relax your 

vigilance for awhile the pests may get in such work as to upset all your 

plans for a year. 

Sunshine. 

Sunshine is as essential to the health of poultry as it is to the health 
of the human being, and to keep birds in a location so poor that the sun 
has no chance to send its needful rays streaming toward the flock is to 
invite disease and failure. Sunshine is needed to dry all moisture, 
whether arising from a damp soil or from the lungs of the birds. Plenty 
of sunshine and fresh air are cheaper and better for the health's sake 
than carbolic acid or sulphur. The less sunlight the more disease. There 
is always trouble ahead for the man or bird who is obliged to live in 
shady quarters. To keep hens in a house with light only from the 
north, or in cellars with low, dusty windows, is taking risks of disease 
as well as probabilities of egg failure. Birds housed under such condi- 
tions are sure to become weak, pale in comb and wattles, and are likely 
to contract catarrh, bronchitis or roup. Sunshine may also b© a source 
of harm if sufficient ventilation is not furnished. A house facing south, 
well supplied with glass, if not allowed plenty of escape for the hot air. 
Will show in winter a temperature of 80 to 100 degrees. The birds suf- 
fer during the heat of noon only to feel more keenly the other extreme 
of low temperature at night. The scratching shed house is not perfec- 
tion, but it does furnish an escape from a hot pen at noon, to the fresh 
air out-of-doors. The days of the all-glass front house are happily ol 
the past, but even now I am occasionally asked by some one if it is not 
best to have lots of windows in the new house. The old idea of our 
childhood clings to us, but we know from experience that about one win- 
dow to each ten feet of front gives the best results from both the health 
and profit point of View. 

Condiments in Excess Are Harmful. 

Condiments are an interesting subject from a health basis. Many 
of the egg foods sold in past years have helped send many a flock to the 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 13 

market because of non-paying results. Our birds need a little spice if 
shut in house and yard— just enough to take the place of the wild berry 
or racy leaf, that are within reach of the birds at liberty. Some of the 
powders offered for sale will throw the birds out of condition if fed 
according to directions. There is danger of irritating the crop and giz- 
zard as well as enlarging the liver. Salt the mash as you would your 
own food, and in cold weather add a little black pepper. You can buy 
nothing better and will get good results if other things are right. 

Exposure in Shipping. 

Train or express exposure is a factor in disease. The sending of 
birds to the winter shows or the transportation of breeding stock is not 
without its dangers. I have seen coops standing for hours in a brisk 
northwest wind, with the temperature below freezing, and then put into 
a baggage car near the hot steam pipes. The reverse often occurs and 
the sudden change from hot to cold is followed by some catarrhal 
trouble. Even the change from the warm show room to the cold of the 
cuter air is not without its dangers. There is something wrong about 
this sending of birds in the way we do, else why is it that some of our 
larger exhibitors never have anything in the line of diphtheria except in 
birds at shows, or returning therefrom? To avoid disease resulting from 
transportation of birds the coops should be roomy, with wind-proof 
sides, and in cold weather a coarse burlap top cover should be provided. 
Safeguards Against Poison. 

Irritant poisons have caused much sickness and not a few deaths. 
The common forms of poisons as found on farms or the village lot are 
paint in some form, paris green or potato bug poisons, and "rough on 
rats" or vermin killer. There is great carelessness shown in the way in 
which these are left around. Tins containing remains of former paint 
contents are often thrown into fence corners or rubbish dumps, only to 
become receptacles for falling rain, and these cans seem to possess an 
attraction for the wandering hen. Paris green is an every-day article 
of use by the farmer or villager and seems to have lost its first impres- 
sion upon the mind of the user that it is a source of danger to all animal 
life. Paris green, and all similar substances ought to be kept out of 
reach of our birds. Little chicks allowed to run in a potato field soon 
after it has been sprayed are very likely to get harm from the bright 
drops of liquid that hang from leaf or tip. Pails used in applying the 
paris green need to be carefully guarded at all times, and above all, not 
allowed to be where they can receive any rainfall. Rat poison is usually 
given on bread, a food that always appeals to a hen's appetite. This 
should be surrounded by all the safeguards possible and even then there 
is danger that by some mischance the phosphorous ingredients of the 
rat poison may be taken in the bird's digestive system. 

Balancing Grain and Vegetables. 
Green Vegetable food fed in too large quantities or withheld alto- 
gether influences the condition of the bird's health. An over-use of 



14 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 

cabbage, rye, weeds or roots is likely to produce diarrhoea and weaken 
the fowl's general system. If largely fed in place of proper food the bird 
Joses weight and becomes sluggish. To refrain from the use of green 
food is like feeding a cow on grain only and expecting good results. 
Hens must have some green food in order to do their best and pay gocd 
dividends. Birds so confined as to be out of reach of any green food be- 
come pale, weak and anaemic. We see this condition in hens kept in 
city barns or cellars or housed and yarded in a manner to cut off access 
to grass. There is no better all-round green food than cut clover, either 
green or dry and steamed. If not allowed a grass run something of the 
green food ought to be fed for both health and profits. Brooder chicks 
will be less likely to get "off their legs" if given a little lettuce or young 
oat sprouts. Even the waste from the hay mow is useful, not only for 
the exercise, but for the leaves and seeds that help make up the bulk. 

Exclusive Grain Diet. 

Grain in connection with diseases of poultry is worth some atten- 
tion. Many cases of bowel trouble are traceable to feeding musty, sour 
or charred grain Any damaged grain is recommended as "good enough 
for poultry" by the ordinary seller, and too often the dealer's statement 
is accepted as good advice. A short time ago I found a poultryman feed- 
ing damaged wheat at a cost of one dollar per hundred pounds, wlien the 
best white wheat was worth one dollar and sixty cents. More than half 
the damaged wheat was without food value while at the same time the 
birds were exposed to dangers of spoiled food. One-half the quantity 
of good wheat was giving better results than the damaged grain and the 
birds were not v)bliged to eat and dispose of a lot of rubbish in order to 
live. To avoid disease, feed the best grain you can get. The best is 
none too good. 

The feeding of an exclusively grain diet is dangerous from a health- 
ful point of view. None of the grains contain elements rightly balanced 
to give perfect results. Wheat comes the nearest to perfection, but even 
this grain when fed to the exclusion of all other foods is followed by 
dumpish, poor laying birds. Any or all of the grains need to be balanced 
with something of the animal nature. A bird depending entirely upon 
grain for food will eat too much in quantity in its endeavors to obtain a 
sufficient amount of nitrogenous, or protein food. Birds having a farm 
run, with free access to the barn mows, will get ainmal food enough for 
warm weather work, but will need a supply of meat meal or green bone 
in winter. Birds fed on a meal mash in the morning and corn at night 
will naturally be sluggish, over-fat, and inclined to fall a prey to dis- 
ease. The desire for healthy and profitable poultry ougOit to be strong 
enough irx the mind of the owner to lead him to know something about 
balancing rations. There is much food for thoug*ht in the report of 
some of our state experiment stations. Poultry keepers ought to have 
and study them. Rhode Island, Massachusetts, West Virginia and Utah 
have done good work in the poultry line and their reports are to be had 
for the asking. 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 15 

Too Little and Too Much Food. 

Cramming, or over-feeding, when persistently followed results in 
indigestion or breakdown. By cramming I mean the giving of too much 
food, either to adult birds or to chicks. In these days of yarded stock 
there is more danger of over-feeding, than in the times of farm flocks 
at liberty. A bird left free to wander where it wishes will stand a better 
chance of keeping well than the one that is dependent on the owner for 
every particle of food. The only time it is best to cram a bird with 
food is when it is soon to be used for the table, and this process ought 
not to take over three weeks. A longer stuffing process is likely to be 
followed by the bird's getting off its feed and losing all it has gained. 
Many a lot of brooder chicks have "passed away" because the owner 
thought it best to give them lots of food often. Chicks, as well as grown 
birds, must not be fed so as to remain lazy, but should be cared for and 
fed in such a way as always to be ready to work for the next meal. There 
must be time for most of one meal to digest before giving the next. With 
the exception of the last feed of the day no meal should be enough in 
quantity to cause the bird to retire to some corner and "mope." The 
active chick is the one with a good appetite and a rapid growth. The 
sluggish, over-fed chick is always a source of worry and easily passes 
into a sick condition. Over-feeding with meat, cooked or raw, is not 
without its dangers. Excess of meat is liable to induce diarrhoea or tax 
the kidneys to get rid of the extra waste. The safe plan to follow in 
feeding green cut bone and meat is to find how much the birds can eat 
in one full meal. Then give at various times during the seven days of 
the week a total amount equal to twice that of the single meal." If fed 
in this way, very little ground meat will be needed in the morning mash. 

Too little food is a cause of anaemic conditions and a source of 
trouble occasionally met with. The common poultry keeper does not 
often err in this direction, but rather leans toward heavy feeding. Giv- 
ing too little food or starving the birds is not pleasant to think of, but 
we may well be watchful that in our system of feeding we do not starve 
the birds along the line of some needed element. Combine or balance 
your ration in such a way that the bird gets just what is needed for 
profit as well as to sustain life. 

Diphtheria. 

Diphtheria is a disease of the cold months rather than of warm 
months. While not so contagious as cholera, it is easily passed from 
bird to bird, either directly or by means of the drinking water or feed 
trough. Diphtheria is fatal enough to be dreaded by any poultry 
Keeper, and even though the birds pull through they are never equal to 
birds that have not had the disease, even for layers, to say nothing of 
cheir doubtful value as breeding stock. Diphtheria leaves its mark on 
the constitution of any bird that has the disease. Diphtheria may be 
taken from sick birds at the shows, or it may be introduced through new 
birds. It always pays to have some system of quarantine even though 
you keep but 'a few birds. This is some trouble, to be sure, but it is a 
safeguard worth its cost to any earnest poultryman. 



16 RELIABLE POUIiTRY REMEDIES. 

Many of the severe epidemics have been in connection with filtlhy or 
damp houses or yards. As we take up the various diseases, readers will 
be surprised to learn the part that filth takes as a factor in disease. A 
clean kept poultry plant seldom has diseased birds, unlessi introduced 
from without. Diphtheria manifests itself early by a sleepy appearance 
of the bird, a slight discharge from the nostrils. The plum- 
age is rough, not sleek. After twenty-four to forty-eight hours 
the catarrhal condition of the nostrils becomes more prominent, and 
the sides of the mouth are sticky with a fluid that comes from within. 
Opening the mouth you will see that the sides and back are also sticky 
with the same fluid that you observed on the outside. Even as early as 
the second day you are likely to find the throat a bright red in color, 
except where covered with the characteristic leaden membrane. In true 
diphtheria this membrane is always firmly attached to the mucous sur- 
face, so closely in fact that its removal is always followed by bleeding. 
If at any time you find on tlhe throat or mouth a membrane that can be 
detached without being followed by bleeding jou may doubt the pres- 
ence of diphtheria. The tendency of the mem .:^iie in diphtheria is to 
spread over the entire ^rface rf the throat that is in view, if indeed it 
does not run up into the nostrils and down into the windpipe. 

This disease is likely to prove fatal in severe attacks within four 
days of the time attention is attracted to the sick bird, and in the mild 
form to run a course of from ten to fifteen days. In cured cases, even 
after the birds are out of danger, there may be some weakness of legs 
or wings that lasts for weeks or months. The ordinary hen house is 
not the ideal place to doctor diphtheria. The bird needs a moderately 
warm room where a stove can have water boiling on it most of the time. 
During the warm months of the year any dry, sunny box of a house will 
do, but diphtheria is a rare disease except in the cold season. For both 
local and internal treatment there is nothing better than calcium sul- 
phide. This must be fresh and very strong-smelling to give good 
results. One grain mixed with a little hot mash and fed so you know 
the bird gets it, three times a day, will do for internal treatment. A 
little of the dry powdered calcium sulphide dropped into a piece of paper 
folded into a V shape and blown into the open mouth will aodify the 
course of the local manifestation of the disease. 

Something depends upon the feeding in this trouble, just how much 
it is hard to say. In severe cases the bird is unable to digest food 
even though it be got into the crop and gizzard. In a case where the 
general symptoms are much lighter than you would expect from the 
appearance of the throat, it is well to give highly nutritious foods, such 
as raw or dropped eggs, beef juice and milk. For a tonic to "pick up" 
the convalescing birds, arsenate of iron in 1-50 grain doses, given in 
mash three times a day, will do good work. 

Canker. 

Whether this is a disease of itself or a mild form of diphtheria is 
not definitely known, but it is always well to consider it of danger 



REIJABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 17 

enough to give it prompt and careful attention. While all birds are at 
times attacked by canker, the Games are quite subject to it. Canker 
is as often seen in the show room as in the home pen. What there is 
about the exposure of the express travel and show room, to cause this 
trouble is not known, but it is a risk that must be taken if we are to 
exhibit our birds. Your attention is called to this disease by observing 
that the bird has some trouble in swallowing food or water. Its neck 
seems to be stiff. Even when standing and doing nothing else it has 
the appearance of swallowing, as though it were trying to get down some 
substance in its throat. 

The usual treatment of canker for years has been to blow powdered 
chlorate of potash into the throat upon the inflamed surfaces. The latest 
and it seems to me the best remedy, is the use of calcium sulphide, as 
in diphtheria. All cases of canker or diphtheria should be sent to the 
hospital, whether that be a dry goods box or an isolated room. You can 
handle the sick bird better in this way and at the same time lessen the 
danger to the flock at large. The previous condition of the bird has no 
beaiing on the contracting of diphtheria or canker. If these diseases 
have any preference it is for vigorous birds rather than weak stock. 

Catarrh. 

In considering catarrh it is well at the very beginning to make 
prominent the fact that catarrh is not roup. Catarrh is a simple inflam- 
mation of the mucous surfaces, and the special term is only appliedi to 
the air passages above the windpipe. Unless filth enters into the cause 
of the sickness catarrh never passes into roup. A bird sick with catarrh 
is likely to contract roup if the proper exposure be given. Catarrh and 
roup cannot be distinguished apart in the first stages, but should receive 
prompt treatment even before the disease can be named. 

In catarrh the bird is not sick to any extent. The infiammation of 
the nostrils does not upset the digestion, and unless added to by im- 
proper treatment or lack of good care, the bird does not lose weight. 
Catarrh is caused by long exposure to cold winds, roosting in a coop so 
that a steady draft of air blows through a chink onto the bird, and from 
contagion from dther cases. 

Catarrh in quite young chicks is very common from the effects of 
a chill, either from low temperature or as the result of crowding and 
sweating in a cold brooder. Many brooders do not have warm floors so 
as to make comfortable the chick at rest. A chick in mdtion requires 
no warm surface under him, but when <he settles down on the floor of 
the hover to sleep he does not want a cool layer of sand or wood to steal 
heat from him during the night. Chicks sometimes contract catarrh 
by beiing deserted by the mother lien before feathering is far along. 

Late in the fall of the year nearly matured birds are attacked by 
this trouble while in the roosting coops or houses. This may he due 
to the opening of cracks in the boards or the blowing off of a shingle or 
part of the paper covering of the roof. Coops that have been all right 
until this time give out as the result of the wet winds of November. 



18 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 

The first symptoms of ca'tarrh you will notice will be a "bubbling" 
at the nose, on one side surely, probably on both. There may also be 
watery eye, perhaps diarrhoea. Dust, chaff or pieces of leaves stick to 
the discharge from the nostrils, calling attention to the sickness. The 
dischaTge passes through the various stages of a common cold — at first 
thin and scanty, then abundant, finally thick and inclined to dry on 
outer surface. 

A case of catarrh, well cared for, will get well without medical treat- 
ment. If catarrh could be told from roup in the early s!tages, I should 
advise no drugs for this sickness, but so long as we do not know surely 
what we have to contend with, some local treatment should be g'iven. 
Add thirty grains of sulphate of quinine to one ounce of hot water. This 
is to be applied twice a day by an atomizer to all inflamed surfaces, first 
cleansing the parts with warm water. The sick birds should b? kept in 
a dry, sunny, roomy place, away from all well birds. 

Diarrhoea. 

Simple diarrhoea, like simple catarrh, is caused by sudden chills or 
even lack of heat, especially in young chicks. Sometimes when you are 
having an epidemic of "colds" (catarrh) you will find some of the birds 
show'ing signs cf looseness of the bowels. Why it is that similar causes 
produce diarrhoea in warm weather and catarrh in cold months is too 
long a story to tell, but it is a fact we well know, A prolonged chill 
will be followed in summer by diarrhoea and a few cases of catarrh, and 
in winter by many cases of catarrh and a few cases of diarrhoea. 

Diarrhoea in chicks is a fatal disease too often met. It is the bane 
of the usual way of raising a few chicks with hens. The hen, tired of 
her inactive life in incubating eggs, wants to roam more than is good for 
the chicks; and from lack of mothering, the chicks become chilled over 
and over again. This induces a looseness of the bowels that soon 
removes the chick from the flock. Brooder chicks also suffer from 
diarrhoea, and this is also caused by too little heat. Too many brooders 
do not plan for any bottom heat and there are those that cannot be relied 
on to keep up the heat during the latter part of the night. If the brooders 
were as good as the incubators, we would hear of fewer persons going 
out of the poultry business, and would see less empty hen houses. There 
are more good incubators than good brooders. To avoid diarrhoea in 
brooder chicks have heat enough to keep the chicks scattered out on the 
floor of the "mother" near the fringe of the hover. No matter what the 
thermometer says, keep the dhicks contented. Depend on what the 
chicks seem to think of it rather than on any set degi'ee of heat. 

Diarrhoea in chicks or adult birds may also be caused by too coarse 
or rough food. The absence of grinding material (grit) will produce 
diarrhoea. The over-feeding of green bone or meat may be followed by 
looseness of the bowels. Irregular feeding — much to-day, little to-mor- 
row — ^has a tendency to upset the bowels. Birds running wild on the 
farm seldom have bowel trouble. It is the yarded fowl, depending on 
man for every particle of food, that has diarrhoea from improper feed- 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 19 

ing. Filthy drinking water is the starting point of many so-called "chol- 
era" outbreaks. This is diarrhoea, too common to be ignored, and is 
well worth remembering in looking for causes of bowel trouble. Filth 
in any form, especially in the water a hen must drink, is a cause of dis- 
ease against which one should constantly guard. Filth in some form or 
other is behind nine-tenths of all sickness in the poultry plant. 

Diarrhoea from too coarse food needs to be treated by giving less 
bran and more of the flour ingredients of wheat. Leave out scratchy 
things and thoroughly cook the mash, and feed lightly of green foods, 
such as turnips and cabbage. If the birds can be given a free run of 
the place and a little food, they will be likely to do well in looking out 
for themselves. All these cases do well if given an astringent drink, such 
as one teaspoonful of tincture of iron to one quart of water. A severe 
case of diarrhoea from over-feeding often improves at once after receiv- 
ing a dose of castor oil. Castor oil may be poured from a spoon into the 
mouth of the fowl, the beak closed and the bird's head held upright till 
it swallows. The dose does not matter so long as you give enough. An 
overdose will pass through with the discharge and that Will be the end 
of it. 

There is a form of diarrhoea known as "enteritis" that we shall 
take up later. This has the same relation to diarrhoea that roup does to 
catarrh. Catarrh and diarrhoea are mild in their course, while enteritis 
and roup are violent, hence more fatal. 

Roup. 

Roup is an infectious disease (purulent catarrhal in form) of the 
air passages. It is met at any time of the year, especially in wet sea- 
sons, most commonly in the late fall weeks. Cold breezy quarters, 
drafts of cold air from broken windows or chinks in walls, a house that 
is hot at noon and very cold at night, bad food, dirty drinking water, 
any or all of these when combined With filth tend toward the production 
of roup. R6up is often introduced into a flock through birds brought 
from outside, through lack of thought in quarantining them when arriv- 
ing. Birds out of condition from any cause easily contract roup when 
exposed to the disease. Sluggish birds from improper or over-feeding 
seem to be fit subjects for catarrhal diseases. Persistent inbreeding 
weakens vitality and increases the susceptibility to disease, especially 
to roup. 

Let me impress upon you now, and I shall have occasion to do it 
more than once, the great factor in the causation of disease is filth. You 
may labor under many difficulties with birds or food or houses, yet if 
you avoid filth you will have few visits from serious sickness. It is 
the long uncleaned, damp house that is the scene of disease. The loaded 
droppings boards are good breeding ground in winter for roup and 
cholera as well as fine summer homes for red mites. Without filth, or 
an introduced case, roup does not appear. Once introduced into a house 
it is rather hard to stamp out. The infectious matter from the discharge 
of the mucous surface seems to retain its life for months, even when 



20 • RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 

it is dry and dusty. Water dishes, unless baked or boiled, retain the 
disease spreading material for a long time. The earth floor holds for 
some time the germs from the diseased birds. 

Outbreaks of roup vary in severity. Sometimes you hear of a flock 
sick with undoubted roup Where every bird recovers Without any treat- 
ment. Then you may next hear of a yard where every one died in spite 
of the most active treatment. The disease when once introduced seems 
to run a more rapid and vigorous course in sturdy stock. Every new 
bird, and all birds returning from the shows, should be kept from the 
home birds for at least seven days, to give disease time to manifest 
itself. It is always well to look under the wings of all new birds to see 
if therei is any dried mucus on the feathers, left there from the bird's 
putting its head under its wing at night. Birds that have been quite 
sick with roup, no matter how well they may seem tO' have become, 
sihould not be bred from if you wish to keep strong stock. Roup seems 
to leave its mark on every victim, though many times it is not seen till 
the next generation. Whatever you may do for yourself, never sell eggs 
or birds that may give weak stock to your neighbor. It may upset many 
cherished plans and spoil the work of years. One of the experiment 

stations reports: "A lot of cockerels, bought of , of New York 

state, had the foulest kind of roup when received. Part were killed, 
and the others cured after a long course of treatment, but they were 
continually getting out of condition, and the mortality among their 
chickens was large." 

The symptoms in the beginning of roup are those of simple catarrh 
and for a few days these diseases cannot be told one from the other. 
For a day or two there is a slight discharge from the nostrils, with eyes 
wet from mucus and often some bubbling at the inner corners; then the 
discharge thickens, gets darker in color, and even entirely obstructs 
breathing through the nose. An average case of roup shows marked 
debility within five days from the outset. Most cases of roup develop 
rapidly from the start and if confined to close quarters the odor arising 
from the inflamed parts becomes marked and disagreeable. There is no 
odor in catarrh; nearly always in roup. Some outbreiaks of roup are 
peculiar because of the marked tendency toward swelled heads and 
ulcerated mouths. These "big heads" mark a severe type of the dis- 
ease; a form likely to prove fatal. A roupy bird is inclined to sleep 
with its head under its wing, which allows the mucus to stick to and 
dry on the feathers. 

Remember that when buying birds, and you may avoid introducing 
half-cured birds to healthy stock. You will find the dried mucus dark- 
ened with dust on the under side of one or both of the wings. Your bird 
sick With a common cold, let alone, will continue along the same cotirse 
for several weeks. With roup you may expect a daily increase in the 
severity of the symptoms. A catarrh tends toward recovery if given any 
reasonable opportunity, while roup needs the best of care to have the 
bird become as well as before the beg'inning of the sickness. Many cases 
are marked for a fatal end from the commencement of the sickness, es- 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 21 

pecially those where we see very large heads and a strong smelling dis- 
charge combined. These cases rarely live over six days and furnish 
good "seed" for future outbreaks. 

Treatment of Roup. 

The treatment of roup varies according to the severity of the attack 
and the stage of the disease. That it is a fatal and dreaded disease we 
know from the many "sure cures" offered to us through advertising col- 
umns of the poultry press. It is an indication of severe trouble when 
you find as many remedies offered as you meet poultrymen. The earlier 
roup is recognized the greater satisfaction there is in treating it. Like 
a fire, roup responds to medicine if taken in the beginning, but if neg- 
lected — "buckets" of drugs have no effect. At the commencement of 
this disease local medication is likely to give better results than in- 
ternal administration of remedies. Both are needed, however, to give 
best results. In the treatment of roup, as in the handling of all diseases 
of the air passages, the most satisfactory way to get the medicines 
where they will do the most good is through the use of an atomizer. It 
will be good practice to buy one costing from fifty cents to one dollar. 
The cheap ones are constantly getting out of order and when you need 
to use one it ought to be reiady for service. 

When you find a bird sneezing, or notice a slight discharge from the 
nostrils, spray all mucous surfaces you can reach with the following 
solution: Extract witch hazel four tablespoonfuls, liquid carbolic acid 
three drops, water two tablespoonfuls. Do this twice a day, squeezing 
the bulb five times for each nostril and twice for the mouth. If there is 
any watery eye give one squeeze for each. The sick birds should be kept 
froni the others to avoid spreading the disease. After removing the sick 
birds, give the drinking and feed dishes a careful washing in as hot 
water as can be used, cleaning the pens as thoroughly as possible. If 
the dishes are of iron or tin a baking in the stove oven will destroy all 
germs. If the disease has progressed to the stage of swelled-head and 
thick discharge, and the bird has a sluggish walk, add one part "Piatt's 
Chlorides" to five of rain water, and bathe head thoroughly with the 
solution, seeing that some of it gets into the nostrils and throat. Some of 
the cases of five years ago used to get well under what was called the 
"coal oil treatment." This consisted in pouring on the surface of a pail 
of water about a gill of kerosene oil, which floated on the surface; the 
swelled head birds were taken one by one and slowly dipped, so the 
heads were under the surface, and held while "one — two — three" was 
slowly repeated, and then raised, the necks and heads being wiped. I 
remember seeing twenty cockerels, so sick that the discharge was thick 
and exceedingly bad smelling, receive this treatment twice a day for two 
days, being obliged to take all drink from dishes that had a film of the 
oil always floating on the top, and come up out of the severe stage, 
improving from day to day, finally being sold to the butcher in nice con- 
dition. 

A friend *of mine who has been a breeder of poultry for twenty years 



22 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 

insists that the oil treatment is the surest of any yet tried by him, and 
ho has bought and used many of those advertised in the years before he 
began to use kerosene. He says he never was satisfied till he depended 
on the oil. This friend has never used what I am now sure is the com- 
ing remedy, and that is peroxide of hydrogen. This is "death to germs.'* 
It is a liquid coming in strong bottles, tightly corked, and needs to be 
diluted with from three to six parts of water. There is a good prepara- 
tion of this known as "Hydrozone," that is often to be found at drug 
stores, that should be diluted with from five to eight parts of water. 
This solution applied to the diseased surfaces at once begins to foam, 
and should be repeated until there is no more bubbling. A little of the 
solution forced into the nostrils by the use of a dropping tube from the 
force of the foaming is driven higher up into the nostrils, reaching parts 
otherwise out of touch. The worse the case the stronger should be the 
solution, and the longer it must be used. The diet in roup should be 
simple. Green food if possible should be within reach, and all mashes 
should have at least one-third clover. The place of detention should be 
dry and sunny. Drinking water should be changed twice a day. 

Mr. A. P. Hunter, in his articles on poultry, advises the following: 
*'A tablespoonful of clear lard, half a tablespoonful each of vinegar, cay- 
enne pepper and mustard; mix well together, add flour till the whole 
has the consistency of dough, roll into slugs about the size of the top 
joint of the little finger, and put one down the patient's throat. The 
dose can be repeated in twelve or twenty-four hours, as the case seems 
to need it, but one slug frequently cures if taken in time. For swelled 
head we bathe with a glycerine-turpentine lotion made of one part spir- 
its of turpentine to six parts of glycerine; and for sneezing, cold and 
swelled head combined, use both remedies; if the patient does not show 
signs of improvement within three days after beginning treatment, take 
off its head and burn or bury it." When a case of roup is referred to 
me to-day for the best treatment I write or say according to the needs of 
The occasion, "Use 'Hydrozone' one part, water two parts, in an atomizer, 
spraying thoroughly all diseased surfaces, twice a day." Roup has been 
rare in the east the past winter, many of the so-called cases being sim- 
ple catarrh. If you will practice some form of quarantine, and keep 
everything free from filth, roup is not likely to appear in your yards. 
Once it gets a start in your flock, your peace of mind is likely to be ruf- 
fled for months. Be watchful, careful, in fact, be a true poultryman. 

Pip. 

This is presented here under this heading, not because it is a disease, 
as it is not, but because so many books give it a place of its own. Pip, 
so-called, is simply a dry condition of the tongue appearing in several 
diseases of the air passages, such as roup, catarrh, bronchitis and pneu- 
monia. It is a symptom of disease, not a disease of itself, Pip, or the 
dry state of the tongue, is produced by the rapid passing over the tongue 
of feverish breath combined with increased temperature of the body. 
The natural moisture is removed and secretion diminished. The tip of 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 23 

the tongue being thin, shows the change plainly, becoming hard and dry. 
Let alone the dry covering or hard membrane; to try to remove it is to 
inflame the tongue and accomplish no good result. Study the w'hole 
bird, finding out the trouble underlying this one symptom, treating the 
real disease. If you must do something for the tongue, paint it twice a 
day with glycerine. 

Scaly-Legs. 

Scaly-leg and fish-skin diseases resemble each other, but are totally 
different in causation. The first is the result of the irritation of a para- 
site, the second a constitutional defect. Scaly-leg is decidedly contag- 
ious, while fish-skin disease is perfectly non-communicable. Scaly-leg 
does not appear without the irritation due to a parasitic insect. This 
parasite comes from another bird, or possibly from an infested house 
or brooder, and works its way in between the scales of shanks or toes. 
As a result of its life work ou the bird the scales are irritated, pushed 
apart, and dirt begins to accumulate in the cracks of the parts. The 
irritation of th^ filth, added to that of the parasite, produces a disgust- 
ing appearance of the legs. Scaly-leg introduced into a fiock well cared 
for does not do as mnch mischief as when it appears In a lot of birds 
kept in dirty houses. Scaly-leg passes from diseased to well birds on 
the roost, or is contracted by chicks when with the "mother hen" A 
single case of scaly-legs on the plant is a source of danger to every 
other bird. 

It is so easy to cure this trouble that it is foolish to set a single hen 
with scaly-legs.To allow a case to continue to exist when once it has 
attracted your attention is to let it be known you are a careless poultry- 
man. I am willing to acknowledge that the disease has little effect on 
egg production, but must say that such breeding stock does not attract 
the eye of the buyer of birds or eggs for fancy or practical purposes. 
Now and then we may buy a bird afflicted with scaly legs, but it is only 
because it is an extra good bird in other respects and we know we can 
get rid of the parasites before it is put with our other birds. I went to 
quite a little trouble last fall to get a pullet for fresh blood from a noted 
strain. I had hard work to find a bird in the lot of fifty pullets that was 
free from scaly-legs, and finally took one that was infected, knowing 
that two applications of Lambert's Ointment would cure the case. The 
owner of the pullets knew he ought to have cured the cases long before, 
but had never got around to it. The pullets had contracted the trouble 
from the mother hens and I found several birds among the year-old 
breeders that were anything but a pleasure to see. 

If a little of the scurvy looking material is scraped off and examined 
under a magnifying glass, a few trials will surely show the little para- 
site. Knowing what you have to handle, do not put off treatment, but 
clean up the disease at once. Scaly-leg is so easy to cure that no intel- 
ligent poultryman is excusable for its presence on his place for over a 
week. Every bird bought ought to be examined for scaly-legs and any 
doubtful one "receive immediate treatment. If you at any time find sev- 



24 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 

eral cases on hand I would advise the applying of the proper treatment 
to every bird on the place. This is not much trouble and prevents the 
cropping out of new cases in a short time. 

" A good ointment tb kill the parasite is made of one ounce of sulphur 
and ten tablespoonfuls of lard or vaseline. Rub this into the rough 
parts of ihe shanks and toes every other night for a week, and give one 
more application about three weeks from the first treatment. 

Another good method of proceeding' is to fill a common wooden pail 
nearly full with water, adding one gill of kerosene oil carefully so it will 
fl6at on the surface. Then take each bird and dip both the legs down 
through Che oil into the water, holding for half a minute and then 
sldwly withdraw. Do not get the oil on the feathered parts and wipe 
off the surface oil on the scaly parts. Repeat the treatment in four or 
five days. If the birds have feathered shanks be very particular in dry- 
ing the feathers, as they will hold the oil and cause the bird much dis- 
comfort by irritating the legs. If the shanks are allowed to soak in 
pure kerosene you are likely to have swelling and inflammation of the 
parts. Avoid the danger of scaly-legs by keeping the birds from sources 
of contagion and especially be diligent in having all houses clear of filth. 

Fish-Skin Disease. 

This resembles "scaly-legs" in as much as it presents a dry, rough 
appearance of the covering of shanks and toes, wi'th more or less dirt 
worked into the spaces between the scales. There is no insect life at 
work in this trouble, but it is due to some disturbance of functional 
action of the bird. It is not passe^d from bird to bird, but it does seem 
to be inclined to appear in certain strains of birds, as if heredity played 
a part in its coming. The skin of shanks or toes seems to be lacking in 
oil afld presents a dry, scaly picture to the eye. There is some irritation 
of the surface, leading to the birds picking or scratching the parts, 
thereby increasing the difficulty. Daily rubbing with an ointment (ole- 
ate of zinc, one teaspoonful, to vaseline, five teaspoonfuls) will soften 
the dry scales, remove the itching and improve the appearance of the 
legs. Changes in diet have not seemed to make any improvement in 
these cases and the local treatment is all we can pursue. 

Dropsy of Feet. 
This may be due to a gouty or to a sluggish condition of the circu- 
lation. Anything that holds back the return circulation of blood, 
whether a congested liver or pressure of a tumor, tends to increase the 
size of shanks and toes. Freezing of the feet is followed by a dropsical 
state of the parts involved. Crowding with foo'd, or furnishing no incen- 
tive to exercise, tends toward appearance of this trouble. Unless there 
is serious organic disease that causes enlarged legs, plain (unstimulat- 
ing) food, green vegetables in abundance and a dose or two of castor oil 
will improve and probably cure the disease. As the legs reduce in size, 
provide more and more exercise to stimulate the functions of the entire 
body. Brooder chicks, developing this condition, need to be fed their 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 25 

grain in barn chaff or finely cut straw. Overfeeding and no exercise are 
the usual causes of dropsy of the legs of growing chicks. 

Bumble-Foot. 

Bumble- foot is a tender, inflamed condition of the bottom of the 
foot, involving the tissues lying beneath the skin and usually is accom- 
panied by the formation of matter. In the very beginning of bumble- 
foot there is a slight thickening of the sole of the foot, with some ten- 
derness of the irritated layers. Pressure is increased, the blood supply is 
shut off, pus forms and has a tendency to work out into other parts of 
the foot or leg. In most cases bumble-foot seems to be the result of a 
bruise, as the general belief of poultrymen is that it is caused by jump- 
ing from the high roost onto a hard floor. I have known several cases 
where the birds have never been allowed to roost at all. I have always 
thought that every case of bumble-foot was caused by an irritation of 
some foreign body, such as splinters, bits of glass, or briars, or from 
germs introduced through the skin by some puncture by one of the sub- 
stances named. I have looked for foreign bodies, but never found any 
except glass. A bird with bumble-foot limps slightly, as though it hurt 
to press the sore part on the ground. If resting it is inclined to stand 
on the well foot. If walking, it hurries to get from the bad to the good 
leg. As pus forms the limp is decidedly pronounced and diagnosis ought 
to be easy without examination of the .sore foot. 

A case caused by a simple bruise is often aborted by washing the 
foot in strong vinegar, or painting the thickened skin with tincture of 
iodine. Most of the cases that have come to our attention had developed 
pus. These should have the pus cavity opened with a clean thin knife, 
the matter washed out with carbolized water, and the entire surface of 
the cavity itself painted with a solution of nitrate of silver — ten grains 
to one ounce of distilled or rain water. Bnmble-foot cases are often 
neglected until the bottom of the foot gets into a condition of chronic 
inflammation that is hard to relieve. Birds that have had the pus cavity 
opened should be kept on clean, dry straw for a week. Many cases have 
had bad results from treatment because obliged to walk about in the filth 
of the yard or house. The cut opers the tissuesi to the dangersi from 
germ life, and it is little wonder that many cases have to have the pus 
discharged over and over again. 

Leg" Weakness. 

Leg weakness is seldom to be seen except in half-grown stock. It 
appears in growing birds, between sixteen and twenty-four weeks old, 
cockerels rather than pullets, in heavy rather than in light weight 
breeds. Behind leg weakness we usually find a history of over-feeding 
of fat-producing foods, or the giving of too little of bone and muscle 
foods, or both. Some cases have been seen in flocks fed in large quantity 
of condiments or "egg food." Increasing the weight of the body beyond 
the ability of the legs to support it, or any process that intends to gain 
size at tha expense of time, is liable to end in leg weakness. The first 



26 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 

symptom is a slight weakness of the legs in walking, hardly noticeable 
to a stranger^ but suggesting trouble to one who is observant of his own 
birds. The gait is unsteady, and the muscles are working at some dis- 
advantage. In a few days the birds may be found sitting when eating, 
and are inclined to walk very little. Looking the bird over at this time 
you will find little wrong about him except the leg trouble. His comb 
is bright, eye clear, appetite good and feathers bright and clean. As 
days go by, however, he presents a different appearance. He is slow to 
get to the feed dish, gets less than his share of grain, is picked at by the 
other birds and driven from place to place, at length becomes thin and 
lousy, and an object of worry to his owner. 

At the first appearance of leg-weakness reduce the quantity of fat- 
producing foods to a small amount. Take away corn and cornmeal, and 
feed little condiments. If the birds are at all crowded in house or roosts 
increase the space or dispose of some of the birds. Stop feeding every 
time you go near them, giving food three times a day, but never to 
crowding the crop. If possible, put the weak birds in a place by them- 
selves, thus avoiding their being imposed upon by stronger members 
of the flock. Feed steamed cut clover to all the birds as a noon meal, 
whether it be summer or winter. As is the case with all birds, clean 
water and houses are needed to go with improved care. Rub the legs 
with tincture of arnica and add one-half teaspoonful of tincture of nux 
vomica to each quart of the drinking water. A good brand of meat meal, 
containing at least one-fifth bone, should be made part of the morning 
mash, in the proportion of one part meal to six of grain and clover. If 
you have peas or beans that you can boil and add to the mash, it will 
be helpful in building up the strength of the birds. 

Cramp. 

Cramp is an affliction of young chicks, somewhat as leg-weakness 
is to half-grown birds. Cramp is caused by overheated brooders, too 
many chicks for the size of the brooder and too little exercise. The pre- 
vention as well as the cure of this discouraging condition is summed up 
in few words — have larger brooders or fewer chicks in each brooder; 
heat the brooders so that the chicks will spread out on the floor of the 
"mother," avoiding crowding to keep warm; lastly, furnish chaff enough 
to make every chick work to get its grain. Sand or earth will do if you 
cannot get chaff, but a small clover cutter will soon cut you enough fine 
hay or straw to fill half a dozen brooder pens. Exercise of itself will do 
very much to prevent the appearance of cramp in young chicks. Cramp 
seems to be a weakness of the muscular system from over-weight of the 
other parts of the body, too little use of the muscles themselves and too 
rapid growth of the bones. 

Broken Shanks. 

Hardly a season goes by in which we do not see a case or two of 
broken bones in our yards. A chick or fowl is caught in a wire fence or 
between pickets, and in its endeavors to escape it snaps the bone of the 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 27 

shank. Or a chick is run over by a team, or stepped on in the yard, and 
a break results. Breaks of this kind unite quickly if the parts are put 
together and kept there. For little chicks you will find common tooth- 
picks handy for splints, while for older birds you can easily make splint« 
of pine. Even stiff pasteboard, slightly wet when applied, will do good 
service. Take a bandage of cotton cloth, wide enough to cover the 
length of the shank, wind it around twice, then put the splints outside 
and finish by winding the cloth round three times more. With needle 
and thread sew the edges of the bandage that it may remain in place- 
The younger the bird the sooner the splints can be removed. Of .course 
if the bird is large enough, and you wish to, you can serve it in chicken- 
pie or treat your family to a broiler. Other broken bones, such as those 
of wings or thighs, are hard to handle and such cases are best suited for 
the cook. 

Rheumatism.. 

Whilo this is a disease affecting ail parts of the body, the prominent 
symptoms are those located in the legs. Rheumatism presents some rise 
in temperature, swollen joints, contraction of some of the muscles and 
pain in motion. Rheumatism may result from long exposure to cold and 
moisture, it may be produced by the over-feeding of meat, induced 
through the underfeeding of vegetable foods, and is helped along by 
previous rheumfitic tendencies of ancestors. Rheumatism is most likely 
to appear during damp wintc-r weather in adult birds, and during the 
brooder stage of chicks. 

The early symptom of rheumatism is contraction of some of the 
muscles of the legs. This generally draws up the toes and flexes the 
shank on the leg. Trying to straighten the limb hurts the bird. There 
is inflammation and pain enough in the muscle or joint to cause the bird 
to try to get ease by sitting most of the tima. An acute case of rheu- 
matism, attended by high temperature, is sometimes complicated by an 
effusion of liquid into the sack covering the heart, disturbing greatly the 
heart's action. These cases often die suddenly and without apparent 
cause. The heart complication is unsuspected until made evident as the 
result of an examination after death. Rheumatic cases also present con- 
gested livers, especially in chicks. Adult birds are subject to rheuma- 
tism, but the fatal cases are few. Brooder chicks exposed to the evils 
of a damp soil or dark, cool "mothers" furnish many cases of rheumatic 
trouble, the losses from the disease being large. 

The suggestions for treatment also indicate the line to be pursued 
in the prevention of rheumatism. Birds should be housed in dry and 
sunny quarters. Give as large a variety of green vegetables as possible, 
not forgetting clover in the mash. Provide easy access to grass if in 
the growing season. The water dishes should be protected to keep the 
birds and floor as dry as possible. Rheumatic brooder chicks need an 
even temperature of the "mother," some facilities for scratching, enough 
sand or chaff on the floor to lessen bottom heat, and water dishes ar- 
ranged to 'keep the chicks dry. The chicks must have daily feeds of 



28 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 

lettuce, cabbage, or some green vegetable. In the winter season, turnip 
or carrot tops, the little shoots that start on the roots when in the ce'l- 
lar, will be found to be useful. Finely cut clover, and the clover tea to 
mix the mash, are also helpful at any time of the year. 

Swollen joints or muscles can be rubbed with tincture of opium or 
extract of witch hazel, or bathed with weak alcohol. For internal treat- 
ment there is no better remedy than iodide of potassium. This is given 
in the drinking water, for chicks and adult birds alike, fifteen grains of 
iodide of potassium to every quart of water. Give in small dishes, so 
that it all may be used while fairly fresh, and thus avoid waste that 
comes from having to throw away any because it is mixed with dirt or 
leaves. Common cooking soda, one level teaspoonful to each quart of 
drinking water, or salicylic acid one grain twice a day, has given good 
results with old birds, but the iodide is the best and most satisfactory. 

Crop-Bound. 

Impaction of the crop is a condition known to many keepers of poul- 
try. This is caused by the retention and swelling of grain, by the accu- 
mulation of long pieces of grass or hay, or by some obstruction at the 
outlet of the crop. In rare instances it results from the damming of food 
from impaction of the gizzard. Birds kept closely housed all winter are 
eager in the spring time to eat the dead grass that has laid under the 
snow for months. This is quite tough and is likely to give way near the 
ground, giving lengths from two to five or more inches. By swallowing 
these in large numbers there is danger of the pieces rolling and matting 
together and forming a round ball in the crop. There is also a source 
of danger in the scratching material furnished, unless vegetable food is 
provided to satisfy the craving of the bird. The bird will get "filling" 
in some way even though it eats its bedding of leaves and straw. 

Cases of impaction caused by cracked corn have come to my atten- 
tion. Nearly grown cockerels fed at night a very full feed of cracked 
corn have gorged themselves with it, and then drank water, causing the 
corn to swell so as to stretch the crop to its utmost. Such cases usually 
correct themselves, or with a little manipulation soon get cleared of the 
packed contents. Now and then you will run across a case of impaction 
caused by some foreign substance filling the outlet of the crop. This 
may be wood or bone, with a sharp point sticking into the sides of the 
crop, or possibly lying across the outlet. So far as the size of any sub- 
stance is concerned you may accept it as a fact that anything a hen swal- 
lows will pass through the digestive system safely. I have found an ex- 
ception or two to this statement, as will be illustrated when we take up 
the gizzard. 

A case of impaction due to over-feed or swollen grain should be 
handled by manipulation. Try to get a little castor oil down the food 
passage, then gently begin at the part of the crop nearest the mouth 
and push a little grain toward the head. Hold the bird head down, 
thereby letting gravity help do the work. Have patience, work care- 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 29 

fully, and if you do not succeed along this line then you can open and 
clear out the crop through an opening in the skin. 

Nearly all oases of crop- bound are due to a collection of long pieces 
of grass or hay. These are nearly all to bo helped by operation. Have 
some one hold the bird so you can have both hands free to work. Pluck 
enough feathers from the breast to give bare skin half an inch wide by 
two inches long. Then with a sharp knife cut through the skin, length- 
wise of the bird, an opening one inch long, over the place of the swollen 
crop. Cut only the skin, leaving the crop untouched until the blood of 
the first incision has ceased to flow. Then cut through the crop a line 
a little over half an inch long. Half an inch may seem short, but you 
will be surprised to see how large the opening is after you have worked 
through it for a while. In removing substances from the crop be care- 
ful to let as little as possible slip between the skin and crop. With an 
opening into the crop, begin with sugar-tongs, toothpicks, or anything 
else handy, to remove the contents. If filled with grass or hay it may 
be necessary to cut the mass with scissors before any start can be made. 
When the crop is apparently empty push your little finger into it, feeling 
to know whether there is any obstruction at the outlet. If you find the 
opening clear, the last thing is to sew up the cut. With needle and white 
silk thread take two single stitches in the cut in the crop, leaving ends 
long enough to hang out of the wound an inch. Then in the same way 
take three stitches in the skin, being careful not to include the crop in 
the knot tied. After the operation, feed lightly on well cooked mash, 
omitting grain for a week. 

Inflammation of the Crop. 

Inflammation of the crop is caused by an irritation of retained food 
or from the effect of foreign substances swallowed. Irritating materials, 
such as paint-skins, rough-on-rats and pieces of unslacked lime, produce 
the trouble through direct contact with the mucous lining of the crop. 
The feeding of too large a quantity of black or red pepper in the mash 
has caused inflamed crops as well as trouble with the egg functions. 
With a crop that is tender and even painful the hen is restless, moving 
about wi^^hout aim, giving one the impression that there is trouble with 
digestiori. Now and then the bird may be seen trying to swallow when 
it has taken no food for hours. The motions of breathing are jerky, 
made so by the pulling of the muscles on the crop. 

If th3 cause is recent, still getting in its work, try to empty the crop. 
If the contents are small it may be well to dilute them by pouring into 
the mouth a few spoonfuls of water and then empty as before. If 
behind the trouble is the effect of air-slacked lime, give weak vinegar 
water; if phosphorous (rough on rats), give magnesia. Having emptied 
the crop, give flaxseed tea and keep the birds on simple diet for a week. 

Enlarged Crop. 

Enlarged crops are more a source of fret to the owner than to the 
bird. These crops have become large through a long continued stretch- 



30 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 

lug; sometimes from over-feeding, more often from impacted crops 
allowed to correct themselves. The appearance of a bird with an over 
large crop is not pleasing and there is always food in it that the weak 
muscles cannot push on the gizzard. To remedy this trouble, pluck 
feathers as for impacted crop and make incisions as before, only mak- 
ing them much longer. Cut out with blunt pointed scissors, both skin 
and crop, so the opening will look like a pair of (), removing quite a 
little membrane. Sew it as described for impacted crop, being sure to 
•titch the crop and skin separately. Feed lightly for a week, removing 
such threads as are in sight at the end of four days. There is little profit 
In doing all this for a fifty-cent hen, but if the bird happens to be your 
best exhibition cockerel you will have a feeling of satisfaction when the 
ill looks are remedied. 

Gastritis. 

Gastritis is a disease of che enlargement of the food passage just 
before it^eaches the gizzard. It seldom is met except in connection with 
inflammation of the crop. The same cause of irritation works in both 
eases. Long continued over-feeding or the over use of spice, or the ill 
effects of the taking in of some poison, are behind gastritis. The mucous 
lining is red, over moist and the blood vessels large. The symptoms 
are those of indigestion — lack of appetite, diarrhoea one day and consti- 
pation the next, some little rise in temperature and general weakness. 
Study to find out the cause of the case you may have on hand. Do not 
let the irritating cause continue its work. Make the drinking water 
loo thing by adding some rico and then boiling it. Omit from mash all 
bran and mix it with clover tea. Add to every pint of the drinking 
water one-tenth of a grain of arsenite of copper. 

Indigestion. * 

This is a disorder affecting the entire digestive system from the crop 
to the intestines. It may be an indication of a naturally weak digestion 
or it may be the result of an over-feeding process. Even the persistent 
use of an imperfectly balanced ration is likely to give symptoms of indi- 
gestion. There is danger in feeding too often, especially young chicks. 
There is quite a difference between letting a bird hunt for its food all 
day and giving it a full meal too often. Exercise is needed as well as 
good food to give the best results. In fact, lazy birds are espe-cially 
prone to dyspepsia, and commonly it is the owner who is to blame for 
the lack of exercise. The use of ground grains and meat to the exclusion 
of clover hay and vegetables, is responsible for many a flock of dyspep- 
tic hens. 

Given a flock of hens with indigestion, the first ste'p is to put them 
Into every-day common sense care and feeding. Have the house free 
from dust and cobwebs, that is, let the sun shine in and sweeten the 
pens; clean every water dish and see that the supply in future is pure; 
decide on a well-balanced ration and feed at regular hours; provide 
scratching material enough to give exercise sufficient to produce good 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 31 

appetites. Jf for one week at the beginning of the improved care you 
will add one teaspoonful of sulphate of magnesia to every quart of 
drinking water, and follow this for two weeks with one-eighth of a 
grain of strychnine to each quart of water, you will hasten the time 
when the birds will be we'll. 

Break-down. 

Break-down is easily recognized by the prominent "baggy condi- 
tion" of two and three-year-old hens. I have seldom seen it in pullets 
and never in male birds. Break-down is the result of a corn diet. The 
birds are not satisfied with the elements furnished in the corn and corn- 
meal, and to supply the need existing in their system eat to excess. 
In this they get too much of the fat-producing parts and too little of 
muscle and egg elements. Tbere is a large fat deposit in the abdomen, 
bulging and dragging down the skin and muscles, giving an ungainly 
appearance to the bird. It is a question to be decided on its merits at 
the time whether to diet these cases or to market them. They probably 
are salable and if cured will be worth little for breeding or egg laying. 
The real good to be gained from recognizing the cause of the "break- 
down" condition is that of avoiding it in the future. Having made the 
mistake of using too much of the corn products, be careful not to do the 
same another year. Because one of our state experiment stations has 
issued a glowing report of the results of feeding corn, do not follow too 
deeply in its wake. If you will try it, let it be on a single pen, and you 
will not run the risk of few eggs and many hens With "break-down." 

Spring Ailments. 

It is the first of May and the troubles of spring are at work in our 
flocks. The old birds are getting out into natural conditions and the 
little chicks are beginning to find out that there are dangers for them 
even when they emerge from the shell. What are these troubles that 
confront us at the opening of the growing season? First I would put 
lack of vitality. The breeding birds have been kept more or less in con- 
finement and fed probably a ration too rich in the corn element. They 
have likely been too fat during the winter for best results and have just 
got worked down in weight to normal size. If allowed to run wild dur- 
ing March some of them have eaten too much dead grass and a case or 
two of "crop bound" may be on hand. Then lice are getting in their 
best work. Each day of increasing warmth adds to the number of lice 
that infests all hens, thereby decreasing the strength of the birds. If 
to the factor of atmospheric heat we add that of the internal warmth of 
the broody hen. we still more increase the danger from lice. A bird with 
weak vitality, whether from lice or other source, is subject to digestive 
troubles and is in danger of tuberculosis if exposed to the germs. 

Another danger of spring time is the use of "egg-foods." Why it is 
at this time of the year that so many fly to some irritant to increase the 
egg yield I do not know,but I do know that it is during the late winter 
and early spring months that I get most letters asking for some formula 



32 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 

for an "egg producer," or, as many write, "a condition powder for chicks 
and hens." I never send any such formula, as the best recipe is good 
food in proper proportions, and exercise. There may be a good condi- 
tion powder, but there is nothing better than food of the right kind and 
qtiantity. There is also a danger in feeding unknown articles to our 
birds. My own experience, and that of my correspondents, satisfy me 
of the truth stated in one of our poultry journals, that "condition pow- 
ders waste good money and at times work mischief to our birds." A 
little money spent just now on some green food, even though it be only 
cut clover, will give better result^ in number and fertility of eggs than 
any egg producer on the market. There is nothing better for spice than 
black pepper and ginger, but these should be used as we would in our 
own food. To increase the amount is to irritate the digestive canal and 
stimulate too much the egg passage. 

The secret of healthy birds, and an average egg yield to be proud of, 
is intelligept care and feeding rather than the use of any drugs. My 
best results in <^rowth and egg yield have always been obtained when I 
fed simply a well-balanced ration slightly spiced with black pepper. I 
have used nothing else for five years and if I were to tell the results of 
some experiments six years ago with "egg persuaders" you w'ould be 
surprised to see how the egg yield went down as the "egg food" was fed. 
Most of the large egg records have been made without stimulants. Last 
year, in ten and one-half months, my bens averaged one hundred and 
ninety-six eggs for every bird in my yards and this was without the use 
of any drugs or doses of any kind. These birds were raised without any 
condition powders and at no time were they sick in any way. It is a 
waste of good money to buy "egg foods." Study to feed sweet, well- 
balanced food and depend upon exercise for the best tonic you can 
obtain, 

A good ration for results in egg yield and health varies somewhat 
according to the season and the condition of the birds. I have found 
the following to give satisfactory returns in every way — the mash,well 
cooked and fed warm, made of bran two parts, ground oats one part, cut 
(or ground) clover two parts, cornmeal one part, ground meat and bone 
one part, all by measure. Feed two-thirds of what they would eat if 
you gave them the chance. Wheat, barley and corn, fed sparingly in the 
litter after the giving of the morning mash, and given freely at night, 
give best results if used according to the temperature of the season. 
The lower the temperature the more corn and less wheat; the higher 
the temperature more wheat and less corn. Barley should not make up 
more than one-iifth of the whole grain fed. Good food alone, although 
properly balanced, will not produce healthy chicks and good laying 
hens. They must have pure air and a dry location. To oblige birds to 
sleep over the accumulations of the droppings boards, or to breath 3 the 
air of a crowded, poorly ventilated house, is to lessen the profit as well 
as to invite disease to your flocks. 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 33 

Tuberculosis in Brooder Chicks. 

There is a danger to our brooder chicks, often overlooked and sel- 
dom recognized, from tuberculosis. I am sure I am not wrong in stat- 
ing that one-fifth the loss in brooder chicks is due to tubercular 
troubles. It is hard to say where the fii"st case comes from in a new 
brooder, as it is believed that the disease does not exist in the newly- 
hatched chick, but the number of dases gradually increases as the brood- 
er continues to be used. The less care given to cleaning the brooder the 
more cases of tuberculosis will appear. Tuberculosis thrives in foul air 
and darkness. What an opportunity then there is for it to make rapid 
progress in many of our brooders. Remember how much pains we take 
to have a circulation of pure warm air through our incubators, and then 
see how ready we are to confine the growing chicks to the dark and close 
air of a pipe brooder system. How many brooders do you know that 
admit light? Are your brooders so made as to furnish an abundance of 
fresh, warm air, and lastly, do you keep them clean? What better place 
could be made for the development of tuberculosis than the dry, dark, 
foul, hot modern brooder? To get the best results from artificial brood- 
ing, we must start with germ-free brooders. They must be supplied 
with sweet air in generous quantity; they must be kept clean, and they 
must be opened as often as possible to the direct sunshine. The best 
destroyer of a turberculosis germ is fresh air and sunlight. In incuba- 
tors wo have reached a high standard, but in brooders we are still wait- 
ing for as good results. There is a small fortune for the man who can. 
put on the market, and introduce it, a brooder that supplies a large 
cfuantity of fresh warm air, and has at the same time a well lighted 
hover chamber. 

The Rhode Island Experiment Station states in a recent report: 
"The simple expedient of removing the hovers and setting them out of 
-doors in the full sun reduced the evidence of tuberculosis in the post- 
mortem examinations from nearly fifty per cent to only three per cent." 
It also says: "For guarding against tuberculosis, give the interior of 
the brooder all the sun and air possible on pleasant daj^." 

During the past winter I was asked to visit a broiler plant where 
the deaths from some new disease were very large. I found that under 
apparently the same conditions in previous years there had been a much 
lower death rate. The chicks as they came from the incubators were 
large and healthy. There were few deaths until the third week. The 
style of brooder, way of feeding, and amount of food seemed to play no 
part in the results. The chicks seemed to thrive for a while and then 
in tens and twenties would lose appetite, become dumpish, grow thin 
and die. Of the chicks brooded in the dark days of January fifty per 
cent died. Examination showed little change in the gizzards or bowels. 
The livers were slightly darker than in health, but the lungs were soft 
and gritty. These were tuberculosis chicks from infected brooders and 
the only thing to do was to clean up the brooders and keep things in 
as sweet a condition as possible, and arrange to start next season with 
brooders free from germs. 



34 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 

The Liver. 

An over-large or solid liver (hypertrophy it is named), is most com- 
mon in the late winter or early spring months, especially in hens com- 
pleting their second year. This result is due to the constant over-feed- 
ing of heat-producing foods to the exclusion of bulky vegetable ele- 
ments. On many farms corn is the only grain raised, and to the farmer 
it seems too bad to buy wheat and barley when he has so much corn on 
hand. Then there is the lack of exercise due to close houses and small 
yards, and no scratching material. Over-feeding and little work cause 
the deposit of fat in various part of the body and no organ suffers more 
from this cause than the liver. 

At the beginning of this trouble the hen shows an increased bright- 
ness in comb and wattles and is an extra good layer. Soon, however, 
the reaction comes. The* comb becomes less bright and the bird takes 
little pains in the care of its plumage. As the bird becomes more and 
more heavy it moves about slowly, taking time in all motions, staying 
on the roost late in the morning and returning to it early in the after- 
noon. Unless some "break down" intervenes the bird at length crawls 
into a corner at night. 

Birds in the early stage of enlargement of the liver respond fairly 
well to a changed ration. Of course it takes longer to remove the dis- 
eased condition than it did to produce it, and the profits are sadly re- 
duced during tlie weeks of patiently feeding the birds to overcome the 
hurtful state of body. 

Add to the drinking water, one-half teaspoonful powdered muriate 
of ammonia to every quart and continue this for one week. 

Atrophy. 

This is due to a starvation diet, either from a badly balanced ration 
or from too little food. I saw a flock in this condition several years ago, 
due to the owner's trying to keep cheaply through the winter a lot of 
late hatched birds. Atrophy or wasting of the liver may also be due in 
a small proportion of cases to a previous condition of enlargement. 

There is no better way to avoid this, and other diseases of the liver, 
than by common sense care and thoughtful feeding. If we would only 
profit from our experiences of the past we should soon see little liver 
trouble of any kind. 

Birds in which this wasting process has begun are off condition, 
showing it in every part of the body. The bird is dull, inclined to stay 
near the house, does Ittle scratching and is off color in comb and wat- 
tles. Feed these birds generously of a ration easily digested and well 
balanced. Give fresh water daily, adding to each quart one-half tea- 
spoonful "Fowler's solution of arsenic." 

In fattening birds for market do not take too long to accomplish 
your purpose. If you do, you run the risk of having some of your birds 
break down and go light. The fattening process is one step toward a 
fatal end and must be brought to its desired limit before disease has 
an opportunity to begin. 



RELIABLE POUI^TRY REMEDIES. 35 

Constipation. 

This condition is met with in both chicks and old birds, but is most 
common in young birds. Especially in brooder chicks do we have this 
trouble to overcome. Little exercise and the feeding of a mash of johnny 
cake containing too little of the coarser forms of grain is to blame for 
many cases of constipation. Even the absence of green food favors 
sluggish bowels. Hens kept in close houses and small yards away from 
all grass and weeds are subject to this trouble. 

Constipation in brooder chicks is quickly cured by increasing the 
proportion of bran in the mash, and furnishing green food, such as let- 
tuce, cabbage or steamed cut-clover. Also put into the brooder pens all 
the waste from the hay mows or baled hay. In this waste the chicks 
will find and eat many a seed or leaf that will help supply a craving 
and furnish bulk for the bowels' demands. 

Adult birds, with constipation, need treatment much like that of 
chicks. Give them a grass run in the growing season, and in winter 
feed liberally of cut-clover and bran, increasing or diminishing the 
amount as seems to be required. 

Peritonitis. 

Peritonitis, or an inflammation of the membrane covering the 
organs in the abdomen and lining that cavity, is a serious and fatal dis- 
ease. It is seldom a disease originating in the membrane, but extends 
from some other part or organ of the abdomen. Some outside violence 
may so irritate the membane as to precipitate trouble, but it is more 
likely to occur from either the bursting of a blood vessel in the egg 
passage, or from tuberculosis. 

The fever in peritonitis runs high, from 105 to 110 degrees. The 
bird is decidedly hot to the touch, especially over the bowels. There is 
much uneasiness in the bird's motions, though at the same time the ten- 
derness of the inflamed parts is extreme. As the inflammation pro- 
gresses the bird becomes weak, finally falling on its side with legs drawn 
close to the body. The appetite is gone and breathing is difficult. 

These cases are seldom cured. Most of them are hopeless from the 
start. Opium pills, one grain each, given twice a day, will ease the pain 
and quiet the bird. All food should be liquid, milk and beef juice, and 
will have to be fed to the bird. Equal parts of beef juice and milk, fed 
warmed to blood heat, and given in tablespoonful doses three times a 
day, will be the best you can do for diet. 

It is seldom, however, that a case recovers from peritonitis. 

Egg-Bound. 

This may be due directly to the condition of the egg passage or to 
some more remote cause. There are more deaths from this trouble in 
late winter than in all the rest of the year. This is largely owing to 
an over-fat condition of the entire system, in which the egg passage is 
pressed upon* by the accumulation of fat about it, hindering the passage 
of the egg. Egg-bound is most common in sluggish birds or those 



36 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 

closely confined without opportunity to exercise. Active birds, such, 
as the Leghorns, seldom take life easy enough to get fat, hence are not 
subject to "egg-bound." The large birds, slow in movement, but with 
good appetites, take on fat more readily and present isolated cases of 
this character. 

A large proportion of birds which die from this egg-bound condition 
will be found on examination to be over-fat. Not only are there large 
collections of fat in the abdominal cavity, but much of the muscular 
tissue is replaced by streaks of fat. This weakens the muscles of the 
egg passage so that between the extra straining and the weak walls it 
gives way, alloAving the egg or its contents to pass into the abdominal 
cavity. The presence of a foreign body excites inflamlnation and peri- 
tonitis follows. 

This same egg-bound condition may cause death from heart disease. 
The bird goes on the nest to lay. It strains violently toi pass the egg. 
The heart muscles, in common with the general muscular condition,, 
are decidedly weak from fatty degeneration. The extra exertion is too 
much for the weakened heart, and it gives out, the bird being found on 
the nest dead. 

Even the collection of fat at the lower end of the abdominal cavity 
is sometimes sufficient to prevent the passage of the egg. Over-fat hens 
are inclined to lay double yolk eggs, and the extra size adds to the dif- 
ficulty in passing the egg. Then there are cases where an egg gets, 
broken on its passage through the oviduct, obstructing the passage of 
eggs following the broken one. 

Sometimes pullets are egg-bound for a few days when trying to 
pass their first egg, but these cases commonly adjust themselves after a. 
short time. 

You have all seen cases of egg-bound hens, and recognize the symp- 
toms. The hen moves about, without apparent cause, going at times 
to the nest, but without dropping an egg. The tail feathers are lowered^ 
looking much as they would on a rainy day. Take the bird in your 
hands, watch the movements of the muscles at the vent and you will 
see that the bird is trying to eject an egg. Pass your little finger, well 
oiled, into the passage, and you will feel the muscular m'ovements and. 
perhaps run the finger tip against the egg itself. 

Long continued cases of egg-bound birds are seldom helped by any 
treatment. The over-fat condition has existed too long to be helped by 
any change in diet. If the bird is heavy and in otherwise good health 
serve in a "chicken pie" at your earliest convenience. 

Simple cases of egg-bound hens are worth trying to help. With 
an oiled finger try to reach and break the egg, removing it if possible. 
If the egg is beyond reach, try giving twenty drops fluid extract ergot 
in a little warm water, and after waiting an hour hold the vent over 
hot water. 

Birds with any trouble of the egg duct should be taken from the 
male bird and housed alone. Feed lightly and give warmed water to 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 37 

drink. If you get the egg away safely, withliold the fat producing foods 
for a month, giving freely of clover and vegetables. Tone up the bird 
by adding ten drops tincture nux vomica to every pint drinking water. 

Inflammation of Egg Passage. 

Inflammation of the egg passage may occur in connection with an 
€gg-bound condition or may be due to the over-use of stimulating condi- 
ments and medicines. Some of the "egg foods" for sale warranted to 
incease egg production are decidedly too irritating for long continued 
use, and are not without their dangers at any time. Cases of inflamma- 
tion of the egg passage are occasionally met as the result of the spread- 
ing of the disease known as vent gleet. 

Outside injuries seldom affect the egg passage except as following 
breaking and holding back of an egg. 

Inflammation of the egg passage is a serious affair. The effect of it 
is at once seen in the bird's movements and general appearance. There 
is almost a constant desire to strain, as if an egg was in the end of the 
duct. This straining is sometimes so violent that a blood vessel is 
broken, causing death at once. As the bird stands, or moves about, you 
will notice that the wings are dropped a little as though there was a 
relaxation of the muscles. The feathers are ruffled and stand out from 
the body more than normal. The vent of the bird is hot, red and in 
motion. In a day or two the bird becomes quiet, as the result of exhaus- 
tion, gives up some of the straining, and shows an increasing paleness 
in comb and wattles. The temperature drops, day by day, till at last 
the bird dies of the widespread inflammation. 

This disease is a good illustration of the need of watching closely 
our birds and remedying trouble in the very beginning. So many of 
these cases are preceded by a retained egg that might be removed that 
we should learn to attack disease at the outset. This disease i^ incur- 
able unless the cause can be removed. Back of some of the cases is an 
over-fat condition. The eggs are large, passage fatty and weak, egg 
retained, inflammation follows. These cases are likely to be hens fed 
with pullets. They are less active, have good appetites, and put on 
fat on the same ration that makes the pullets fine layers. Some of these 
cases can be avoided by cooping hens and pullets separately, and feed- 
ing the old bird's a larger proportion of clover hay. 

When you think they have a case of inflammation of the egg pas- 
sage, begin active treatment at once by giving each bird one-half tea- 
spoonful sulphate magnesia in a tablespoonful of warm water. Oil a 
small finger with castor oil or vaseline and gently try to find out by 
examination whether there is a retained or broken egg in the passage. 
Finding an egg, try to break it enough to enable you to remove it. 
Every motion you make should be gentle and slow. Succeeding in re- 
moving an egg, feed the bird for a week largely on cut-clover and weill 
cooked bran. Give little grain and avoid corn and cornmeal. 



38 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 

Soft-Shelled Eggs. 

This is not exactly a diseased condition, but may be the first symp- 
tom of approaching danger. Over-stimulation of the egg organs by use 
of spice, or so-called "egg foods," tends toward the production of thin- 
shelled eggs. Even fright may hurry along the eggs before the shell 
has been added. Worms may" increase in the intestines to such an ex- 
tent as to stimulate the egg passage to push along the egg beyond its 
usual distance. An over-fat hen has a tendency toward laying thin- 
shelled eggs. In fact, this is the usual cause of soft-shelled eggs. 

There come times when a knowledge of the causes of this condition 
is useful, but even then we sometimes fail to correct the tendency to 
thin or soft-shelled eggs. The bird that laid the brown eggs that took 
the first prize and several specials at the Boston show in 1899, was- 
sold to a man in the west for twenty dollars. In spite of the fact that 
he wished to set some of the eggs, and above all to be able to exhibit 
the best brown eggs at the Nashville show, the bird at once developed 
a tendency toward thin-shelled eggs. It seemed to be in perfect health. 
Food, exercise, magnesia in drinking water, grit and oyster shells, 
everything thought of was tried, but nothing seemed to make the slight- 
est change. I think it likely that the bird started by being over-fat 
and this in some way set up any irritation of the egg passage. Being 
unnoticed or neglected, the condition became chronic and apparently 
incurable. 

Provided the cause is an over-fat condition, you can meet this dif- 
ficulty by providing a diet low in fat-producing elements, supplying 
grit and oyster shells in abundance, making the birds work for much of 
the grain, and adding a liberal amount of cut-clover to the mash. One 
or two doses of sulphate of magnesia (one heaping teaspoonful to a pint 
of drinking water) kept before the hens for a day, twice a week, will 
help remove the layers of fat. 

Avoid this unsatisfactory condition by feeding a well balanced 
ration, not trying to increase the egg yield by means of anything that 
does the work by irritation of the egg organs. Know the condition of 
the bodies of your birds and so feed as to keep them in a laying state, 
but not over-fat. Do not be afraid of a little fat during the winter 
months, but furnish sufficient exercise to do all the stimulating needed. 

Cholera. 

Cholera is a disease of fowls, attacking all parts of the body, but 
especially manifesting itself upon the mucous lining of the intestines. 
It is a germ disease, easily carried from place to place, passing from 
bird to bird with the slightest exposure. Cholera varies in intensity 
in different seasons, sections and countries. The cases reported and 
described in this country are not so severe as those told us as occurring 
in Great Britain. While the disease is to be dreaded, and is fatal 
enough, we are fortunate in not having to handle it in the true Asiatic 
type. 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 39 

You will call to mind the emphasis I have always laid upon the 
part filth plays in disease. Cholera is a prominent example of this 
truth. There is something about the good breeding ground that filth 
offers that is favorable to the beginning of cholera,. Just where the germ 
hides itself away, awaiting the right conditions, no one yet knows, but 
many cases have been reported as occurring under such circumstances 
as to rule out all reasona;ble doubt as to their having been introduced 
from without. On the other hand, given the uncleaned poultry house 
and bringing the disease, no matter how mild it may have been, from 
without, it will take on a severe type and prove very fatal. 

It is also true that healthy birds easily contract cholera. Clean 
houses, good care and food are no protection from this disease. The 
adding of a single bird sick with cholera to the plant, or bringing in in 
any way the discharge from sick birds, is enough to keep the owner busy 
burying birds for a long time. There is danger of introducing the dis- 
ease if there is any passing between an infected pliant and a healthy 
one. This danger is largely due to droppings from sick birds being car- 
ried by the shoes from place to place. 

Cholera knows no breed. The sluggish Cochin and the active Leg- 
horn show no difference in susceptibility to this dread disease. Chicks 
and adult fowls are alike fair prey to this trouble. 

Temperature is a factor in spreading, as well as in controlling, 
Cholera. Warm, damp days are favorable to the increase of an epi- 
demic; while a contimied freeze often holds in check an outbreak of 
cholera. Cholera shows itself in the wet days of autumn or early 
spring, rather than in midwinter. 

Knowing the danger existing from infested flocks, take pains to 
avoid neighbors' sick birds. It is not hard to keep out disease, but 
when once introduced, cholera and roup must be fought long and hard. 
In no better way will the little house of detention prove its worth than 
in keeping out roup and cholera. 

Prevention is more satisfactory than medicine. In fact, unless you 
early recognize the trouble you have to contend with, you stand little 
chance of curing the birds. Cholera runs so rapid a course that there 
is short time to do any active medication. Your birds may look well in 
th(=> morning, be sick at night, and dead the next day. 

The first symptom is a slight, watery diarrhoea, lacking in color as 
the hours go by. With this the bird is sluggish and not easily moved 
by any motion of the owner. It is inclined to remain standing wher- 
ever it may be; often gets into a corner and stands in the sun with its 
tail drooped. There is a look of disarray to the feathers, a roughness in 
the appearance of the plumage, and the fluff below the vent is wet with 
diarrhoea! discharge, if indeed it is not stuck together. There is a gen- 
eral let-down to the muscular system, the wings drooping, head carried 
low, and even the eye-lids half closed. 

There is 'no desire for food, but the bird is decidedly thirsty. The 
desire for water is offset by the sluggishness of the bird, and it may be 



40 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 

seen starting for the water dish, then stopping to wait on the way. The 
first discharge from the bowels is thick from the usual contents of the 
Intestines, but as the bowels become empty the discharge gets less solid 
and quite watery. As the inflammation of the bowel lining increases 
there appear slight bloody streaks in the discharge, and this may in- 
cre^ase until the flow is nearly pure blood. 

Severe cases s'how some irritation of the throat and nostrils, a 
slight discharge appearing in mouth and eyes. At the end of the first 
day you may expect to find the bird decidedly weak. The comb gets 
darker than in health, passing from red to purple as the disease pro- 
gresses. Hill, in his book, "Diseases of Poultry," gives the best descrip- 
tion of the post-mortem appearance of this disease, as follows: "Lin- 
ing membrane of the mouth livid, except toward the outside, which was 
pale; throat purple and full of sticky, dirty, yellowish matter; tip of 
tongue hardened and partly detached; eyes sunk deep into the sockets; 
eyelids emphysematous or swollen; gizard empty, except a little gravel 
and thin, acid fluid; muscular substance of a deep red color; intestines 
extensively inflamed, with extravasated blood patches under the mucous 
membrane, and here and there corrosions. The matter contained in the 
intestines was of a dirty, thin, ichorous, acrid nature; liver deeply con- 
gested and increased in volume; lungs slightly congested and pleuritic 
exudation; heart purplish-red and studded with echymose of extrava- 
sated blood spots; pericardium contained an excessive amount of straw 
colored fluid." 

The treatment of such a disease as cholera, running so rapid a 
course and with such violence, must be prompt and active. To wait a 
few days to see whether any more birds take the trouble, is giving your- 
self a hard, discouraging season in which to get rid of the last case. 
The man who is quick to see any change in appearance of his hens will 
early note danger in the first few hours of cholera. At the first sug- 
gestion of a possible cholera case quarantine all doubtful birds; at once 
scald or bake every drinking dish; scald all food utensils, and clean up 
every house. In other words, destroy every lurking germ that can cause 
future trouble. If the sick birds cp.n be kept by themselves, so much 
the better. 

Add to each quart of drinking water for the sick birds spirits of 
camphor, one teaspoonful, and one-fourth ounce of sulpho-carbolate of 
zinc. The sulpho-oarbolate of zinc should be white in color. The more 
red it shows the more impure and irritating it is. Much of the sulpho- 
carbolate offered is not white and should be avoided for internal use. 
You will notice that this salt of zinc is often suggested by me. I get 
much satisfaction from it as an internal antiseptic. For drinking water 
for the apparently well birds, add to every quart one-eighth ounce sul- 
pho-carbolate of zinc. 

If the diarrhoea is excessive give a pill of "Dover's Powder," one 
grain every two hours until the discharge lessens. The opium in the 
pill relieves pain and quiets the muscular action of the bowels. Th« 



KELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 41 

diet question is difficult to solve. Anything bulky is out of the ques- 
tion, if indeed the bird does not directly solve this by refusing to eat 
at all. Highly concentrated food is needed to sustain life; something 
easily digested, and this requirement is best found in meat juice. One 
tablespodnful, every four hours, given by means of a spoon or glass 
dropping tube, will help the case. The meat juice is prepared by half 
cooking ^teak, squeezing the liquid out and adding a little salt and 
pepper. 

The treatment of cholera is not satisfactory in results. If you suc- 
ceed in curing more than one-half your birds, you may well doubt the 
presence of that disease, and may make up your mind that the trouble 
is simple diarrhoea, enteritis or indigestion. 

The successful plan of handling dholera is prevention, rather than 
the time and labor needed to doctor sick birds. 

Dysentery. 

This may be a neglected diarrhoea running on into deep inflamma- 
tion, or it may be a disease of itself originating from some filthy con- 
dition of the poultry plant. A.t any rate, poor care always enters into 
this disease. It may be from wrong ideas of what is needed to keep 
healthy birds, or from allowing the disease to be introduced through 
outside birds. Filthy water or foul floors are likely to spread dj^sentery. 
If indeed they are not the direct cause of it. Dysentery always is 
accompanied by a looseness of the bowels. The discharge is thin, often 
watery, with more or less blood, according to the severity of the dis- 
ease. The bird early shows weakness of the muscuhir system, and is 
soon "off its feed." 

This disease is not highly infectious, but there is much danger if 
the plant is not well cleaned up at the very beginning of the outbreak. 
There is danger enough to call for the division of tte flock into well and 
sick birds. The disease seems to spread by means of the droppings. 

All suspected, as well as ajll decidedly sick birds, should have an 
Intestinal disinfectant given in the drinking water. Here we find 
another use for the sulpho-carbolate of zinc, or for a combination of 
the sulpho-carbolates of zinc, soda and lime. One ounce of the zinc, or 
of the combination, added to two quarts of boiled water, should be the 
only drink for four days. The best results will be obtained by placing 
this drink before the birds, for ten minutes at a time, soon before feed- 
ing, four times a day. If the discharge is decidedly bloody a pill of 
Dover's Powder of one grain can be administered in a little mash twice 
a day. If there seems to be much pain, give three doses of the Dover's 
Powder per day. 

The diet of all the birds, sick and well, ought to be non-irritating 
for a few days. Feed lightly of the coarsest parts of the wheat, giving 
middlings rather than bran, making at least one-third the mash of 
clover hay, thoroughly cooked. Feed wheat rather than corn for a week, 
supplying grit in abundance. If possible let all drinking water used for 



42 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 

a month be first boiled. Clean all dishes often and keep aJll droppings, 
out of them. 

In uncleaned brooders there sometimes develops a condition resem- 
bling dysentery, a condition to be removed by keeping the chicks' sur- 
roundings in a correct way. Winter chicks are especially prone to 
bowel troulDle, and if fed in such a way as to make the little ones eat 
off the wet floor they are likely to be good subjects for dysentery or 
enteritis. 

Dropsy. 

This is a disease of the abdomen, or it may be a symptom of disease- 
in some other part of the body. There is always a collection of water 
or serum to be found in or between the tissues of this section of the- 
bird. Anaemic chicks sometimes develop dropsy as the result of filthy 
surroundings or incorrect feeding. The dropsy is secondary to the 
anaemia. 

Old birds may have this same condition as the result of poor sur* 
Foundings or care, or it may result because of obstruction to blood flow 
from diseased organs, or from the pressure of tumors. 

Tonics, such as tincture of nux vomica, one teaspoonful to two 
quarts water, or arsenate of iron, one grain to one quart water, used as. 
drink for the sick birds, will help improve the general health of the 
foMs and sometimes this is followed by the disappearance of the dropsy^ 
"With tonics, good food, dry, sunny houses, clean yards and houses, you 
may look for improvement. 

If the collection of fluid is large it will be well to insert a hollow 
needle, first boiling it in water, through the tense skin, letting much of 
the liquid run out. Follow this by giving in the drinking water one 
tablespoonful sulphate magnesia to each quart, and keep this up for a 
week, or until you see a change for the better. When this improvement 
begins, change from magnesia to iodide of potassium, twenty grains to 
each quart drinking water. 

Birds that have had dropsy are to be ruled out for breeders. Birds, 
that have a history of sickness of any form are to be viewed with sus- 
picion, for egg yielders as well as breeders. Flocks that seem to have 
a tendency toward certain diseases are poor property, and should be 
put one side and a fresh start taken, or fresh Mood should be promptly 
introduced. 

The Lungs. 

The diseases of the lungs are bronchitis, pneiimonia, consumption, 
and tuberculosis. Of these, bronchitis may be either acute or (Chronic; 
pneumonia is acute, consumption and tuberculosis chronic. These dis- 
eases are not easily given one to another, but there is danger enough to 
make it desirable to keep all sick birds away from well ones. Bron- 
chitis is limited to the lining membrane of the bronchial tubes, pneu- 
monia to the air cells, consumption to the substance of the lung tissue, 
tuberculosis to all parts of the lungs. 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 43 

Bronchitis. 

While catarrh is an inflammation of the lining of the nostrils, bron- 
chitis is limite<i to a like surface of the breathing tubes. Bronchitis 
may be as mil* as a simple catarrh or as severe as the worst attack of 
roup. We see all grades of severity, from a common "cold" to a suffo- 
cating catarrh dangerous to life. There is a;lways plenty of germ life 
to be fouad in the mucous discharge, but we are not sure whether the 
germs are the cause or the accompaniment of the disease. 

Bronchitis is caused by exposure to storms, especially when the 
birds are housed in too close or too warm a building; by sudden atmos- 
pheric changes; by direct currents of cold air; by irritating particles of 
dust or lime; or by the spreading of inflammation from diseased throat 
or nostrils. 

Bronchitis is not so often seen in young chicks as is diarrhoea ; there 
seems to be a tendency toward bowel rather than lung trouble during 
the early months of the bird's life. Bronchitis in chicks is commonly 
caused by exposure to rain; by sudden extremes of temperature due to 
over-heated brooders and cold brooder houses; or by close, foul air. I 
am of the opinion that more cases of catarrh and bronchitis are due 
to bad air than to all other causes. Bad air is filthy air, and filth is a 
prominent factor in the causation of disease. Foul air lowers the vital- 
ity, diminishes resistance to disease, and furnishes good conditions for 
trouble. The close, uncleaned hen house, or the unventilated brooder, 
alike, are the unsuspected cause of many troubles. 

There is little danger from bronchitis after the chicks pass out of 
the brooder, until late fall, when the birds are often caught out in the 
roosting coops by some storm, or are transferred from the airy summer 
coops to some crowded, close house. 

Birds sent on the train to an exhibition or to some new owner stand' 
a chance of developing bronchitis. The hot show room and warm cor- 
ner of the express car are likely to be succeeded in winter by exposure 
to a low temperature that is dangerous. 

Birds that have a history of roup in previous months, or birds 
descending from stock with a record of cured roup, seem to be fit sub- 
jects for catarrhal diseases, and no one is more likely to appear than 
bronchitis. 

I have known air-slaked lime to so irritate the mucous surfaces as 
to produce what resembled an ordinary bronchitis. The droppings 
boards were freely dusted with the lime while the birds were confined to 
a closed house. There seemsi no reason for the use of air-slaked lime 
about poultry buildings. Ground plaster and dry earth are so much 
better and cheaper that they should always be used, and this source 
of danger be avoided. 

Unless you are looking for the outbreak of this disease it will have 
got a start of one to three days before the bird appears to be really sick. 
There is from the first some rise of temperature and a little difficulty 
in breathing. The lining of the brouchial passages are dry and swollen. 



44 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 

hindering the passing in and out of air. At the end of the second day 
the bird is quite thirsty and is a constant visitor at the water dish. 
There is not a decided cough, but the noise naade is more of a whistling 
character. It is not often to be heard at any distance .from the bird, 
and may require the putting of your ear to the side of the bird, to make 
out the peculiar sound. As the disease progresses there is more and 
more mucous poured out, disturbing the action of the lungs, and chang- 
ing the noise from whistling to rattling. 

Chronic bronchitis may arise from the passing of an acute case into 
the chronic form, or it may be simply slow and light from the begin- 
ning. The chronic form is not unknown to any breeder of a few years' 
experience. These cases often seem to be well birds except for the rat- 
tling in breathing. We dislike, however, to hear this noise, and it is 
always a source of danger 'to have even a local disease on hand. Chronic 
bronchitis responds fairly well to medication and any one of us is will- 
ing to take a little trouble to cure it. 

If you have a case of bronchitis on hand, and suspect that others 
are developing the disease, be prompt to attempt aborting the sick- 
r.ess. Aconite will do this in a large proportion of cases. I prefer aco- 
nitine to the tincture for quick and sure results, but it is not to be 
b'ought outside the large cities, and even there is not always to be had 
in convenient form for use. I have obtained such sure results from the 
use of the alkaloid (aconitine) in ray own practice that long ago I 
put on one side the tincture. A good tincture should be given in drop 
doses to each bird, every two hours. There is no better way than to 
mix as many drops as you are to feed birds with a little mash and give 
in such dishes as to let each bird have its proportion. One day's treat- 
ment persisted in will abort nine-tenths of the cases. Feed a hot mash 
of at least one-half bran, and keep all birds in as even temperature as 
possible. 

The chronic cases, known by the marked rattling in breathing when 
on the roost at night, require a course of tonic treatment. The combi- 
nation of the arsenates of iron, strychnine and quinine, known as 
"Dumas' Anti-m.alarial Pill," was introduced by me to the poultry world 
five years ago, for the cure of chronic bronchitis. It has done good 
service. 

This pill, containing iron, strychnine and quinine, should be given 
in a little bit of mash, morning and night. Quite often the only case of 
chronic bronchitis on hand will be one of the best males, and it annoys 
me to have the head of a pen sick in any way. These cases are more 
disagreeable than dangerous. A little better feeding of easily digested 
food should be given these chronic cases. 

Pneumonia. 

Pneumonia is a catarrhal inflammation of the lining of the air cell 
of the lungs. It is a serious disease, often unrecognized during life, 
and proving fatal in a large proportion of cases. The more we have to 
do with this disease the more sure we are that it is somewhat infectious. 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 45 

It pursues so peculiar a course in many instances that we cannot think 
otherwise than that a single case on a poultry plant is of danger to all 
the other birds. 

Pneumonia arises under various conditions and circumstances. It 
sometimes appears in a flock that has been shut in a tight house, in 
close air and damp floors, and then let out one day into the cold zero 
weather of our northern states. Chicks and fowls alike suffer from 
pneumonia when kept on the "hot house" plan. All ages, except under 
three weeks, require the daily exhilaration to be obtained only by ex- 
posure to the fresh air. The moment you begin to baby a bird you are 
commencing a practice that is dangerous to health. There is life, vital- 
ity and profit in the reaction that comes from breathing pure air. It 
takes extra good judgment to ventilate the long, tight front houses, and 
the steam-warmed brooder houses, and many a plant has failed in the 
attempt. The scratching houses have helped solve the question for adult 
birds. Along this same line we must raise our broilers if we wish to 
avoid a high death rate. Close, damp air always is a source of trouble 
to birds of any age. There is very little sickness to be seen in the 
scratching shed house, and in my own "Peep-o'Day" houses I have 
never had a sick bird. If wo make our birds scratch for part of their 
living and give them plenty of protected fresh air room, we shall sel- 
dom have a case of pneumonia arise in our flock. Last winter when the 
thermometer hung near zero for a week my Wyandottes continued to 
work and lay, even though the doors between scratching and roosting 
rooms of my "Peep-o'-Day" houses were never tightly closed. I do not 
advise this exposure for the tall combed birds, but Wyandottes and 
Plymouth Rocks will do their best if treated in the manner stated. Do 
you know how this life of exposure affects the soldier on the plains? 
No matter what the weather so long as the tent life is continued there 
is little sickness. But transfer the men to the red-hot stoved warmed 
barracks and you soon get influenzas and pneumonias. 

Very young chicks, dragged out into the pouring rain by the active 
hen, often become chilled and develop a low grade of pneumonia. These 
cases seldom recover and those that do are poor stunted chicks. Study 
and practice prevention and let our failures only lead to renewed efforts 
to have healthy stock. 

Chicks with well developed pneumonia show no sure sign of the 
disease. Most of them are without .appetite, breathe rapidly, and move 
about little, if a,ny. 

Adult birds show the rapid (panting) breathing, dullness in appear- 
ance, sluggish movements, and loss of appetite. In fact, the full pow- 
ers of the bird are put forth in the effort to get air enough to sustain 
life. If you put your ear over the chest wall and listen carefully you 
will get a peculiar sound that is crackling or snapping in character. In 
a short time the bird may be seen standing in a corner, in a listless 
state, wingS droopiug and a relaxed condition of all muscles except 
those used in breathing. 



46 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 

The treatment of this disease must be prompt and active. To wait 
a few days or to be afraid to use good sized dosesi is to lose the bird. 
The disease is sudden, rapid in its course, and dangerous to life. Hence 
be quick to see the first appearance of any sign of pneumonia and 
meet the indications. 

If you can arrange it conveniently, place the birds in coops in a 
room that can be warmed to seventy degrees of temperature, with some 
plan of furnishing moisture. If the room be otherwise dry and sunny, 
with heat enough to allow for ventilation, you will get better results. 
Let the food for a week be little besides raw eggs, milk and beef juice. 
This may be given with bran, as a hot mash, or it very likely will have 
to be put into the throat by means of a dropping tube. If the bird is 
willing to eat, let him; if he cannot, you must give him food or he is 
likely to die. 

Among the remedies in common use are two that you must avoid, 
and these are quinine and liquor. They will do more harm than good, 
and should not be used in acute troubles. Quinine is always to be 
avoided in any acute inflammation of the chest. In small doses, as a 
tonic, it is good in chronic diseases of the birds. 

There is no single remedy for pneumonia better than aconitine, 
early administered and given in sure doses. The tincture, if reliable, will 
give as good results. The trouble in giving medicine to a bird is to be 
sure that he is getting the right amount in the right way. One drop of 
the tincture, or one-fifteen-hundredth of a grain (1-1500) of the amor- 
phous aconitine, every two hours, during daylight, will do something 
toward bringing the bird through the sickness. The small dose, often 
repeated, will give results that are not obtained when giving large doses 
twice a day. Make a few pills of mash and sulpho-carbolate of zinc, 
one grain of the zinc in each pill, and make the bird swallow one morn- 
ing and night. The liquid medicines can be given in a little water from 
a spoon, or dropped from a tube, or mixed with the mash if the bird 
swallows. 

Consumption. 

It is too bad to be obliged to consider consumption and tuberculosis 
together, but in presenting the subjpct to a lay audience they must be 
kept close in their relation to each other. 

There is a similarity in these diseases. They present certain symp- 
toms in common. They are widely different in others. Consumption 
is likely to have followed a badly eared for case of pneumonia, bron- 
chitis or roup. Tuberculosis is always preceded by a previous case. 
Neither disease is likely to ?ippear in well cared for, sturdy birds. It 
seems necessary to have the proper soil before either disease sends deep- 
ly its roots. Neither disease is inherited, but birds from weak ancestors 
fall a ready prey if the right conditions are presented. 

Birds kept in a way favorable to roup are quite likely to present a 
few cases of consumption. Anything in housing, feed or care, that tends 
toward lowered vitality, is a factor in these troubles. There is no better 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 47 

Avay to avoid consumption and tuberculosis than to keep strong, sturdy 
stocli Careless, persistent inbreeding leads to a dangerous tendency 
to disease 

Tuberculous cattle, and persons, to'o, are to be viewed with suspi- 
<^ion and avoided whenever possible. The danger is small, to be sure, but 
enough to call for good care in preventing the beginnings of trouble. 
The better the general condition of your birds, the less danger there is 
of consumption or tuberculosis appearing in your flock. 

There is much satisfaction in having birds so well that disease finds 
poor soil for chronic trouble?. Breeding birds should always be up to 
the highest standard of health. The crossing of birds with a tendency 
toward lung disease is a dangerous plan and is followed by many mis- 
haps. 

Consumption is a disease limited to the lung tissues, but in a small 
proportion of cases is accompanied by a fetid diarrhoea. It is likely to 
have been preceded by either roup, bronchitis or pneumonia. The early 
symptom is not one that would call your attention to the seat of the 
A^isease. It is simple weakness, apparently without cause. Perhaps in 
a week's time there appears some slight trouble in breathing, a little 
shortness of breath on exercising, or some roughness of respiration 
when on the roost at night. There is no real cough. The irritation pro- 
duces a changed jerky breathing that must be heard to be known. It 
makes you wonder whether there is not some foreign body in the nasal 
passage that obstructs the movement of the air. As weeks and months 
go by, the bird stops laying, becomes thin and light, more and more pale 
in comb and wattles. Indigestion increases, the food passing froni the 
bowels in much the same state as when swallowed. Left to take its own 
course, the bird finally dies, thin, light in weight, and pale in color of 
skin. Any bird in this or any similar condition ought not to be allowed 
to live out its days. The early use of the hatchet prevents the waste 
of time and food, as well as reducing the danger to the well members 
of the place. 

Tuberculosis. 

Tuberculosis is a disease more rapid and intense than consumption. 
Consumption has little increase of temperature, while tuberculosis has 
a persistent rise of bodily heat. Tuberculosis birds present a constant 
<iecrease in weight and the difficulty in breathing is quite manifest. In 
connection with every case of tuberculosis there is to be found at work 
as a factor in the disease a g^^rm — bacilus — and this germ must be pres- 
ent to confirm the diagnosis. There have appeared cases enough cf 
tuberculosis in poultry yards, apparently contracted from sick cows, to 
warrant our being on the watch for all sources of possible trouble. 
Even a case of a single bird "going light" should be quarantined as a 
possible source of future trouble. 

Suppose you find you have a case on hand resembling the trouble 
we have under consideration. Your best plan will be to kill and burn 
the sick bird. It is not safe to depend upon burying the bird. It may get 



48 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 

exposed through the effort of some «logs and become an object of dan- 
ger. The sick birds disposed of, then turn your attention to the protec- 
tion of the well members of the flock. Clean out at once all litter from 
the houses and yards. Take off a thin layer of soil from the earth floors 
of pens and a little from the bare yards near the houses. Brush up the 
inside of all buildings and remove all dust and cobwebs from the win- 
dows. Whitewash in a thorough manner the woodwork of the build- 
ings, not forgetting the roosts and droppings boards. Last of all, scaid 
every drinking and feed vessel. 

Birds healthy from the start, well fed, given plenty of fresh air and 
sunshine, not crowded, do not easily contract tuberculosis, even though 
they may come in contact with it. There must be a lowered condition 
of vitality in the bird to enable the germ of tuberculosis to find a suit- 
able soiil in which to grow. If this disease ever g'ets under headway in 
your poultry yard, you have only to blame yourself for the discourag- 
ing outlook before you. 

If you have the time and inclination to doctor some of the cases 
in the beginning of the disease, you will find the use of good tonics 
and cod liver oil to give fair results in a small proportion of the siick 
birds. The chances are about equal, however, that you have had indi- 
gestion to contend with rather than real tuberculosis. Birds that are 
really tuberculous seldom are cured by any treatment. Any good emul- 
sion of cod liver oil mixed with the mash will help nourish the bird. 
For a tonic there is nothing better than the arsenate of iron in pill 
form, 1-50 grain each, twice a day. If the breathing is at all bad the 
use of the syrup of hydriodic acid, five drops three times a day in mash, 
will do much to relieve the condition. 

A poultryman who has on hand several cases of tuberculosis ought 
to stop at once the shipping of birds for breeding, and eggs for hatching. 
He has no right to impose upon some one else stock that is doubtful, it 
not dangerous. 

Six years a:go, in an article in "Poultry," an English paper of good 
repute, J. Woodroffe Hiil put himself on record as follows: 

"The broadv-st fact established regarding the exciting cause of tuber- 
culous deposit is that the domesticated animal is more liable to tuber- 
cular disease than the same animal in a wild state. The stabled cow, 
the penned sheep, the tamed rabbit, the monkey, the caged lion, tiger or 
elephant, are almost invariably cut off by tuberculous affections, no 
doubt due to deficient ventilation, and the abeyance of normal exercise 
of the pulmonary functions. Compare the ordinary barnyard fowl with 
the highly bred show bird as to vigor, stamina and freedom from hered- 
itary disease, and the former, generally speaking, shows the cleanest 
bill of health, for this reason — it lives in a more natural cohdition, is 
not crammed with artificial food or dosed with quack nostrums, and gets. 
what grit it chooses to find without being supplied with any special 
form. 



reijIable poultry remedies. 49 

"The ravages of tuberculosis in the human family are too patent to 
ignore its gravity in the lower creation, and the poultry fancier will best 
consult his own interests in studiously avoiding breeding from or pur- 
chasing birds of scroful^ous or tuberculous taint, and in the event of the 
disease manifesting itself, to dispose of his stock, thoroughly disinfect 
his grounds, and after a sufficient interval import fresh and pure blood." 

The warning of Prof. Hill is well worth heeding. At the same time 
I am sure that the same danger does not exist here as in England as 
regards pure bred poultry. There are fully as many sick birds in farm- 
ers' flocks as in the yards of our fanciers. I am more impressed every 
season with the health a.nd vigor to be seen in the birds sent to the win- 
.ter shows. Given your pick of the birds at the early fall fairs in con 
ter shows. Given your pick of the birds at the early fall fairs in con- 
would take the carefully bred birds of the fancier. Let us profit from 
the statement of Prof. Hill, in so far as It indicates a possible danger. 

The Liver. 

The diseases of the liver are too numerous and too common to be 
passed by at this time. They generally result from too good feeding 
or from the over use of condiments. Nine-tenths of these liver troubles 
are due to the giving of a ration too rich in starch elements. The single 
flock of the village lot is especially prone to liver disease because of the 
large proportion of bread foods in the table waste. Unless you can con- 
trol the feeding of this waste it is safer to depend upon a mash of bal- 
anced ground grain and meat. 

Congested or sluggish liver is the beginning of inflammation of the 
organ or may be a serious tr'ouble in itself. If left to follow its own 
course, with no change in diet, the chances are that inflammation and 
enlarg'ement will follow\ 

Any trouble with the other organs of the abdomen that obstruct the 
circulation of the blood will congest the liver. The persistent feeding 
of many of the so-called "egg foods" to birds closely housed and yarded 
irritate both liver and egg organs. The use of a ration in which pota- 
toes form too large a part throws so much work upon the liver that in 
its endeavor to perform its part, it becomes at first congested, then 
inflamed, and ends in permanent enlargement or in atrophy. 

The early symptoms of a congested liver are seldom, noticed. There 
is a lack of color in comb and wattles that makes one wonder what is 
to follow. Usually your first sign of trouble is a watery diarrhoea, dark 
at first, but changing in a few days to a yellow cast. The feathers do 
not look smooth and shiny, but have a dull, rough appearance. At this 
time the color of comb and wattles has begun to change from the nat- 
ural hue to a dark red or purple, often getting nearly or quite black in 
color. The sick birds show noi appetite for food, but move from place 
to place without ambition to eat or exercise. 

If these cases are early noticed and properly treated, most of them 
will recover their health. As the cause is largely one of improper feed- 



50 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 

ing, the return to rational foods must be the first step. If the mash is 
made as largely of cut clover as you can get the bird to take you will 
be doing well for a starter. Drop out much of the flour and cornmeal. 
Better feed green cut bone or fresh meat, than dry meat meal, for a 
month. Give the birds as scratching material the waste from the hay 
mows. If the cases appear in warm weather give the birds access to a 
clean grass run. 

At the first appearance of liver trouble give each bird a teaspoonful 
of castor oil. If this is not easy for you to do, the next best plan will 
be to get the same resuUs by adding one-half teaspoonful sulphate mag- 
nesia to the drinking water of each bird. If the birds are not thirsty, 
you must give it from a spoon or dropping tube. After a single dose of 
laxative medicine I should refrain from further medica,tion and depend 
upon proper food and care. 

Hepatitas or Inflammation. 

Hepititas or inflammation is really the stage following congestion 
of the liver. There is little satisfactiion in doctoring cases that have 
been allowed to drift into this condition. As the result of the inflam- 
matory process the liver tissues are permanently injured. Even though 
the trouble is brought to a standstill, the organ is partially unfit to carry 
on its needed work. Many of these cases of inflammation have a past 
history of chronic lung disease, or of break-down from over-feeding. 

The symptoms of this stage follow those of congestion of the liver. 
The diarrhoea is watery and yellow, poor appetite, and increased desire 
for water. There is a sluggish manner in breathing, suggesting lowered 
vitality. The birds show little inclination to move about; lose weight 
rapidly; becoming little more than skin and bones in the course of two 
to three weeks. 

Treat these cases, if at all, by clearing out the bowels once with 
castor oil or sulphate of magnesia, following this by the use of tincture 
of nux vomica one-fourth teaspoonful to every pint of drinking water 
given the birds. Feed lightly of heating foods, depending upon clover 
and bran largely for mash, with an out-of-door life when possible. 

The Comb. 

Nearly all so-called diseases of the comb come in connection with 
some other disease or condition. I suppose they are commonly classed 
as diseases because of the prominent position the comb symptoms hold. 
Any change in the looks of comb or wattles is plain to the most thought- 
less poultryman, and presents a sign of danger if not showing the indi- 
cations of a normal bird. 

There are fewer cases of comb diseases in this country than in Great 
Britain, owing, I suppose to better care and more healthful surround- 
ings. It is well to remember that a change in the appearance of the 
comb indicates a disturbance in some other part of the bird. If to the 
comb symptoms are added similar changes in wattles and ear-lobes, you 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 51 

are to understand that the case is all the more dangerous, and needs 
more careful and immediate attention. 

The comb tells quite a little story of what is going on in the organs 
of the whole body. Its appearance is as helpful to the poultry keeper 
as the tongue of a human patient is to the observing physician. 

The normal condition of the comb presents that healthy look that 
we all so like to see in our birds, and that is a sign of good bodily condi- 
tion. As poultrymen we may call that color "standard red." Any devi- 
ation from this red, whether it be to a darker or to a lighter hue, is an 
indication of changed action in the workings of the organs, or to a 
change in the vitality of the whole l)ird. The light colored comb shows 
an anaemic state of the bird, while the dark (purple) comb indicates tne 
opposite— plethera. One may be a sign of under-feeding; the other that 
of cramming or over-feeding. 

rungoid. 
This disease attacks birds when exposed to previous cases, and 
seems to break out also in flocks that have been fed a ration rich in 
starches. It is easily passed from bird to bird, and is seen in its worst 
aspect when the birds are suffering from a low state of vitality. 

Fungoid presents indications of a local rather than a general dis- 
ease. It seems to affect only lightly the workings of the bodily func- 
tions. The full force of the disease seems to show itself in the comb 
and wattles. The first indication is the appearance of little bunches of 
hard substance under the skin covering the wattles and comb, about the 
size of bird shot, and feeling to the touch like shot, and no change from 
normal in color of skin over the little swellings. In a few days these 
shotlike bodies soften, flatten a little, break through and discharge 
through the opening in the skin, a watery, straw colored fluid. 

There may be a dozen of the discharging openings. In a day or two 
there are likely to appear near these openings or ulcers other shot-like 
bodies that follow the course of the first lot. Crop after crop of these 
may appear until the comb and wattles are closely covered with them 
showing vartous stages of the disease. The discharge darkens slightly 
as it diminishes in quantity, drying on the surface, and presenting a 
disagreeable appearance to the sight. The dry surface is itchy to the 
bird and she is sure to do more or less scratching, causing more irrita- 
tion and some bleeding. In a third of the cases the disease spreads to 
the skin of the head and neck, increasing the size of these parts and pre- 
senting a picture disagreeable to any lover of poultry. 

If this disease has been allowed to grow into the condition last 
described, little treatment will avail. The birds are in a hopeless stale, 
with little prospect of cure. They are probably thin, With no appetite, 
and present the appearance of tired out birds. Kill and bury every one 
of the long continued cases, and give your attention to new cases. The 
legs should be tied together, yet loose enough to allow walking, while 
close enough to prevent any scratching of the inflamed surfaces. 
Wash as* often as you can the whole surface of comb and wattles with 



52 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 

a solution of cairbolic acid crystals, five grains to a pint of water. This 
lessens Itching and diminishes the danger of the spread of the infection. 
The food should be highly nourishing and fed warm. Of course every 
sick bird should be removed from the flock to lessen the danger of expos- 
ure. This disease, introduced into a flock of healthy birds, runs a more 
rapid course than when the stock is low in vitality. 

White Comb. 

Unlike fungoid that is not contagious, white comb depends upon 
a low state of vitality. The disease manifests itself in the same location 
as fungoid, but presents a different appearance. The first indication is 
the coming of little red or white points in the skin covering both comb 
and wattles. Usually these are white when firsit noticed. The 
nearness to the skin causes an early breaking of the little gatherings; 
the contents proving to be thin, light colored and quickly drying on the 
surface. This gives the parts affected a scurfy, whitish appearance. 
The movements of the bird loosen the dry flaky substance, and it 
comes off in little pieces of the size of bran. As the disease spreads to 
neck and face the irritation causes the feathers to drop out, adding to 
the disagreeable appearance. With the local symptoms are to be 
noticed a paleness of all mucous surfaces, and a suggestion of weakness 
in all motions of the bird. 

White comb is the result of long continued exposure to close air, 
little or no sunshine, and total absence of all green vegetable food. This 
points, of course, to the city cellars and shut-in town back yards. 

The cause suggests the remedy. Either give up the keeping of 
birds under such unhygienic conditions or remove them to pastures 
green, with sunny skies. A tonic of a little nux vomica may be helpful,, 
but after all the best remedy is good food with proper care and housing. 
Oil the sore surfaces with an ointment made by mixing one part oleate^ 
of zinc and ten parts vaseline. Do this once a day until the eruption 
disappears. 

Black Rot. 

This is a condition of the comb resulting from imperfect circulation 
of blood through it and is really evidence of the death of the tissue 
involved. It is a rare occasion when we meet black rot except in tall 
combed birds. Nearly every case that has been examined after killing 
has shown some disease of the liver. It is probable that the comb symp- 
toms are secondary to the real disease. 

The first indication of the approach of this trouble is a darkening 
of the color of the comb. The points only may be involved at first, or 
the purple hue may extend to the whole structure. Prom purple, the 
color changes to blue and then to black. If the bird in other respects 
is healthy, he may live long enough to have the diseased portion sep- 
arate from the healthy portion, leaving an unsightly stump. The dis- 
eased portion of the comb may be either dry or moist, "dry rot" or 
"moist rot," according to the case. In connection with an inflamed» 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 53 

dying comb, there is nearly a complete loss of appetite and a looseness 
of bowels. The bird shows little desire for exercise and remains on the 
roost or under the droppings boards for hours at a time. 

The varied circumstances under which cases of "black rot" have 
been noted give little idea as to the cause of the disease. In a few cases 
there is a history of a sudden chill and in others the houses were close 
and damp. 

If the disease gets a good start, treatment does little good. The 
combs should be painted twice a day with a lotion of one ounce of water, 
one-half ounce of glycerine, and carbolic a;cid crystals, two grains. Keep 
the bird in a dry, sunny, clean room, giving pure water and fresh air. 
Be sure that green food, in some form, such as dandelion or cabbage 
leaves or onions, be within reach at all times. The adding one-half tea- 
spoonful muriate of ammonia to each pint of drinking water will help 
relieve the congested liver. 



Frost Bite. 

The appearance of frost bite is much the same as that of black rot, 
but the bird does not lose its appetite and is nearly as lively as usual. 
The color of the comb or wattles is purple or black. The darker the 
color the more danger of the frozen part being lost. The more rapid the 
thawing of the part the more danger of serious results to the portion 
affected. 

Frost bite is, of course, due to exposiri'g the birds to too low a tem- 
perature or the long continued heat absorbing action of a zero breeze. 
Low vitality, from close houses or under-feeding, increases the danger, 
both of frost bite and the after effects. 

The taller and thinner the comb the more it is exposed to the loss 
of heat, and the more care sfhould be given to proper housing and yard- 
ing. Do the best we can, there will, at times, come cases of frost bite 
into our flocks. A sudden drop of forty degrees in the night or the un- 
expected rise of a zero breeze, will catch our birds when we are unpre- 
pared. The best house and the best care will not prevent the appear- 
ance of a case now and then. 

If the trouble is seen before the frost has thawed out, put the bird 
in a room that will warm up slowly, letting the circulation begin slowly. 
Avoid a place where the bird can get into the direct sunlight or a room 
that is muchi above the freezing point. Even the holding of dry snow 
against the comb will help remove more slowly the frost of the parts. 
Having restored the circulation, or noticing the bird after it has thawed 
out, apply twice a day an ointment of vaseline, six tablespoonfuls, 
glycerine two tablespoonfuls, turpentine one teaspoonful. This will 
help start into a healthy coudition the blood circulation of comb and 
wattles, and at the same time reduce the swelling. 



54 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 

Injuries of Comb. 

Injuries to the comb and wattles are more or less common, and are 
usually the results of fighting or from getting caught in wire or lath 
divisions of the house or yard. Sometimes a thin comb is nearly torn 
from the head or a wattle is badly slit. To avoid deformity the parts 
should be brought closely together and stitched with a needle and fine 
white silk. The blood supply is so good that even though three- fourths 
the part is torn a little, stitching will result in the part healing and 
presenting a fine appearance as the result of a little careful work. Keep 
the bird alone until the stitches can be cut and removed, thus prevent- 
ing any picking by other birds. Whenever the blood dries on the surface 
of the comb and you find other birds inclined to pick at it, put the bird 
away by itself. It is easy to teach birds to pick under such conditions,, 
and (the habit is a bad one. The irritation to the sick bird is also bad 
and delays healing, if indeed it does not undo the good you have done. 
For a sore comb or one that is slow in healing, apply an ointment of 
oleate of zinc one part to vaseline ten parts. This protects the sore 
parts and hastens the healing of the tears. 

Eczema. 

I have sometimes thought there was no difference between eczema 
and "white comb," and yet we seldom see the two troubles in the same 
bird. Eczema is a disease manifesting itself in the skin, yet due to a 
constitutional cause. It is caused by the over-feeding of a highly nitro- 
genous ration, by lack of excretion, or from closely inbred birds of a 
rheumatic tendency. The disease is never passed by contact from bird 
to bird. It is not contagious. 

While eczema may appear on any part of the skin of the bird, the 
usual seat of the disease is the wattles. I am not sure but it appears at 
the same time on other parts of the bird, but being covered by feathers 
it does not attract our attention. On the wattles it attracts our notice 
by the appearing of fine white points. These are slightly raised and 
seem to have just the thin skin over them. They continue to increase 
in size, new points appearing, the contents becoming thinner and 
slightly lighter in color. When several "points" have united, the skin 
bursts, the fluid runs out, and dries on the surface, forming a scurfy 
crust. In severe cases the discharge has been noticed to irritate the 
skin of rhe shanks and toes where it falls on them. Birds with eczema 
present a tired .appearance and a marked loss of appetite. 

These cases need an improved diet. The mash should contain a 
good proportion of cut clover, green vegetables should be fed liberally, 
and there should be very little meat fed in any form for weeks. Green 
cut bone, free from meat, will be helpful in building up the bird. 

One grain pill citrate iron and quinine every morning and one grain 
calomel at night for one week will help clear up the constitutional con- 
dition, and increase the health of the bird. 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 55 

Apply to the diseased wattles several times during the week the 
same ointment as recommended for "white comb." 

Chicken Pox. 

We seldom have cases of chicken pox among our adult birds, but run 
across it in the autumn of the year in the nearly matured stock. Cold, 
damp, dark days increase the number of cases and intensify the disease. 
While the eruption may appear on any part of the skin of the bird, we 
usually see it on the face or underside of wings. These places are easy 
to get at and from the chara.cter of the eruption we name the trouble. 
The eruption may extend to the eye balls or appear directly on them, 
and may cause the loss of sight, if not the destruction of the eye balls. 

The more numerous the sores or ulcers the more prominent the loss 
of appetite, strength and color. 

Chicken pox is known by the scabby ulcers appearing on, any part 
of the body, but more often on head or wing. These ulcers exude a 
liquid that is inclined to dry on the surface and present a scaly, dirty 
coating. The sores present themselves in crops, and have no great 
depth. Unlike white comb, they do not present at first a fine white 
point. Along with the coming of the eruption the bird shows more 
thirst than common, and a slight rise of temperature. 

Chicken pox does not prove fatal unless there is marked lack of 
care in housing and feeding. Birds kept dry and out of cold winds on 
simple nourishing foods, need little medicine. If chicken pox appears 
during a long continued storm in the fall of the year and the birds are 
not kept from exposure to it, there is likely to be a large death rate. 

For the eruption there is nothing better than common carbolated 
vaseline. Feed a simple mash of at least one-third clover mixed with 
boiling milk. See that all damp scratching material is promptly moved 
and dry straw supplied in its place. The danger in this disease is ex- 
posure to cold and wet. 

Apoplexy. 

By apoplexy I mean the condition resulting from a break in a blood 
vessel of the brain. This break may come because of a weakened state 
of the artery itself, or from too great a blood pressure on it from over 
action of the heart. The common cause of weakness of the blood ves- 
sels of the brain is an over-fat condition of the whole bird. In common 
with other parts of the muscular system, the little muscles of the 
arteries suffer from fatty degeneration, which produces a weakened wall 
to resist pressure. Without some other direct factor this fatty wall 
would seldom give way and produce a brain trouble. However, let a 
bird in this fatty state be chased violently about the farm, and the 
increased action of the heart brings to bear on the brain vessels 
increased pressure that is likely to produce serious results. Birds in 
this diseased condition are likely to ha.ve difficulty in passing their eggs, 
and during the greater strain imposed upon the bird in laying it is liable 



56 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 

to burst a vessel in the brain, and apoplexy results. This accounts for 
many laying hens being found dead on the nest. 

Filling crop and gizzard to extreme fullness, in an over-fat bird, has 
been known to produce apoplexy and death. I remember a case in my 
own yards several years ago. A two-year-old male, a Wyandotte, at 
the end of a long breeding season was 'put into a pen with a dozen half 
grown cockerels. While in the breeding pen he was all attention to the 
hens, seeing that they had food enough before he would help himself, 
but under his changed circumstances he was greedy to get all he could 
from the young males. As I fed them one night, I noticed how lively 
the cock was, how he was eating as I had never seen a bird eat before. 
Apparently he was in perfect health. Half an hour late, I found him 
lying on his side dead, with purple comb and wattles. His crop was 
stuffed with grain, and his gizzard was tightly packed with food of all 
kinds. 

In times of long continued hot weather cases resembling apoplexy 
may be met. These are usually sunstroke, and while there is brain 
pressure, there is no clot of blood to be found in the brain as in 
apoplexy. 

Prevention of apoplexy is along the line of proper care. First, the 
feeding a well balanced ration; second, no chasing of birds by dogs or 
boys; third, moderate feeding in such a way as to prevent a greedy bird 
getting his food in too short a time. 

Cases of apoplexy, and cases resembling it in any way, should be 
bled at the first indication of the trouble. To wait awhile is to see the 
bird die. With a sharp knife open a blood vessel on the under side of 
the wing. Let two teaspoonfuls of blood flow before allowing the blood 
to clot. Even this small amount will reduce the pressure on the vessels. 
A laxative, such as castor oil, or one drop croton oil, should be given if 
the bird can be made to swallow. 

Few cases of apoplexy over regain good health. There is always 
something wrong about the birds, and they are constantly getting out 
of condition. If a number of cases appear in a flock, it will be well to 
make a few changes of diet. Reduce the quantity of corn and cornmeal; 
increase the amount of clover and green vegetables, and give the birds 
their freedom, or yard them on large grass fields. Provide some protec- 
tion from the heat of noon day. 

Worms. 

I shall say little on the subject of worms, except as relates to the 
roundworm, the tapeworm and to gapes. These are three worms that 
are common enough to warrant suggesting treatment for the condi- 
tions that arise when they are present in our birds. There are a dozen 
others that are of interest as curiosities, but they are rarely seen and 
are not really dangerous. Our government, through its department at 
Washington, and some of the State Experiment Stations, is doing good 
work in the study of worms and their relation to poultry disease, and 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 57 

the printed reports should be studied by poultrymen. The Rhode Island 
Station has advanced study in this line, especially in relation of worms 
to turkey disease. It is well to understand the dangersi and symptoms 
of these parasites, that we may recognize their presence and so avoid 
serious trouble and possible failure. 

There are two kinds of worms that are more or less common in the 
digestive canal of fowls — the "roundworm" and "tapeworm." 

The Roundworm. 

The roundworm receives its name from its shape in contradistinc- 
tion to the flat tape worm. The roundworm is much more common than 
the tapeworm, and is familiar to any dresser of poultry. It is not a 
source of trouble except from the massing of large numbers. A few 
worms make little impression on the health of a bird, but if they abound 
in hundreds they will have a decided effect on the digestion of the hen. 
The large numbers, matted and wriggling, may be a cause of stoppage; 
iheir irritation causes diarrhoea, and their appetites diminish the nutri- 
ment intended to support the hen. These roundworms are seldom 
pas^sed in the bowel discharges. Now and then a worm, is passed, but 
it soon dies in the droppings or is eaten by some other bird. It is not 
till a bird is killed or dies that worms are known to be present. The 
roundworm varies in size from one-third to five inches in length. Its 
color is white. The head is pointed like the sharpened end of a pencil; 
the tail blunt like the '=nd of a finger. 

The symptoms of worms are those of indigestion. The comb ar.d 
wattles are pale, bird thin, with possibly a slight diarrhoea. 

If you suspect worms, try to remove them. Dissolve in the water 
that is to be used for mixing the mash, two grains santonine for each 
bird to be treated. Mix a small allowance of mash, quite dry, and add 
castor oil, one-half t.easpoonfui for each bird. Feed this to the suspected 
birds, watching for the results of the "worm treatment." All droppings 
should be collected often and put out of reach of the birds. 

The Tapeworm. 

The tapeworm is not as common as the roundworm. I have met 
poultrymen who have never seen a tapeworm, even when dressing birds. 
Perhaps if th^y had taken pains to examine the contents of the bowels 
they might have another story to tell. Poultrymen are busy folks and 
have little time for looking after something that has m^ade only a 
slight impression on the health of their birds. Vale tells us that th's 
tapeworm "appears to be identical with the tapeworm found in cats 
(Toenia crassicolis), and it is, therefore, highly probable that it :s 
derived from the same source — that is, the fluke of the liver of the 
mouse; for it is an ascertained fact that fowls will actually catch mice 
and eat them. I have seen brooder chicks catch little mice and tear 
them limb from limb," 

Our birds generally show no indication of the presence of tape- 
worms. Sometimes the birds will be uncommonly thin in spite of a 
good appetite, but tapeworm is not thought of. When the worm gets 
quite long, pieces of the tail may be seen in the droppings, looking like 
narrow tape. 

Knowing, or even suspecting, that you have a case of tapeworm to 
deal with, give the bird six drops oil male fern in one teaspoonful castor 
oil. The proper time of the day to give this is in the morning while the 
crop and gizzard are empty, and if the food of the night before is a 



58 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 

light one, so mucli the better. Two hours after giving the male fern, 
give a light mash containing for each bird treated one tablespoonful 
castor oil. 

Gapes. 

Gapes is a disease appearing in chicks, rather than in old birds, and 
is the direct cause of death of millions of young chicks and old birds 
every year. I have known of its resulting fatally in fifty percent of 
cases attacked. Gapes are caused by the irritation of a parasitic worm 
in the windpipe. A single worm makes little impression, but when they 
are present in dozens the danger is not to be courted. The direct ir- 
tation is not the only source of difficulty, for the loss of nutrition needed 
to support the life of the worm is felt by the bird. 

Every case of gapes presupposes a previous case. It does not arise 
from filth or wrong feeding, but it does seem to take fresh vigor when 
the surroundings are unhygienic. There are fewer cases of this dis- 
ease in New England than in the Middle and South Atlantic states, 
whether due to the long cold winter or not is uncertain. It seems to 
flourish iu the dry sandy sections of our country, in the wet days of late 
summer and early fall. Heat and wet seem to go with fresh outbreaks. 
A few of the worst epidemics I havei known have appeared in the late 
fall, in full grown birds, kept on wet clay soil. 

Gapes have often been found in the common earth worm, in those 
sections of the country where the disease is to be met. This may explain 
why the disease appears year after year in spite of the most careful 
labor towards cure and prevention. 

Gapes have been a subject written about since the first of the past 
century. The national agricultural department, fifteen years ago, em- 
ployed Dr. H. D. Walker, of New York, to study the gape worm. As 
part of the report of his labors, we are told that newly hatched embryos 
introduced into the windpipe of a chick gain full size in eight days. 
That eggs must have a temperature of above thirty-two to grow and 
are destroyed by freezing. 

The parasite that is the cause of gapes varies in length from one- 
eight to one-half inch, and is threadlike in appearance. Its color 
varies according to the amount of the bird's blood that it may have 
taken at the time of examination. It may be pale or even bright red. 
Often you may think you have found a double-headed worm, but careful 
looking will show you that what seemed at first one worm with two 
heads is really two worms closely united for breeding. The worm 
usually found in the windpipe is half an inch long and its diameter that 
of a medium-sized sewing needle. 

The history of this parasite is an interesting one and may be pur- 
sued to advantage in the reports of some of the State Experiment Sta- 
tions. <- 

The symptoms vary according to the amount of irritation and loss 
of nutrition. The early symptom is a little cough (hack), as though a 
little dust had slipped into the windpipe, and the bird was trying to 
eject it. As the worms increase in size and number, their presence 
infiames the lining membrane of the windpipe, increasing the amount 
of normal secretion as well as thickening the lining itself. The increase 
of irritation, the flow of mucous, and the swollen membrane, all work to 
change the character of the breathing, giving us the gasping or gaping 
that names the disease. The bird goes about with open mouth, as if he 
had taken a mouthful of too hot food. In some cases the mucous secreted 
is so plentiful as to partially prevent the passing of air, and in others 
it is drawn into the bronchial tubes, often causing the death of the chick. 
The inflammation itself may extend to the lungs and so kill the bird. 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 59 

Besides thf- gaping and open-mouthed breathing, there is at times 
sneezing trouble in swallowing food, and loss of flesh. Gapes is a ser- 
ious disease and precautions should be exercised to prevent its entering 
your yards, and the subject should be studied to obtain the knowledge 
needed to cure cases arising in your flock. 

It is always well at the beginning of any serious sickness in our 
birds to gain the information (to be obtained in no other way) gleaned 
from a post-mortem examination, it is better to know you have gapes 
to deal with, than to doctor for gapes when you have on hand an epi- 
demic of pneumonia or bronchitis. The very treatment needed for 
gapes would surely kill the subjects of these last named diseases. Ex- 
amine carefully the whole lining of the windpipe, using a magnifying 
glass of low power if you have one, and do not give treatment suggested 
for gapes unless you find the worms. 

The very location of the home of the gapeworm makes its treatment 
difficult. If the worm lived in the crop or bowels it could easily be 
reached with liquid medicines, and the irritation itself would cause 
much less distress to the infected bird. 

To reach the worm in the windpipe all sorts of combinations of 
wire, hair and feathers have been offered to a confiding poultry public. 
Some do bring up sample worms, but most of them are utter failures. 
The best only confirm your diagnosis, and have little effect towards the 
cure of the trouble. The few large worms extracted lessen irritation for 
a while, but the short young worms are too small to be caught in any 
device yet invented. The instrument in ordinary use consists of a long 
wire, having at its end circle's of horse hair. This is pushed; down the 
air tube, turned two or three times, slowly withdrawn, with one or more 
worms possibly entangled in its meshes. This is a slow process and 
very wearing on the bird. 

The most common and satisfactory treatment is the use of lime dust. 
The birds are shut in a barrel or box, so arranged as to allow inspec- 
tion of the birds while subjected to the process, and air slacked lime is 
allowed to settle slowly through the air of the chamber. Thisi is done 
by havicg part of the top of the box or barrel covered with bagging so 
the dust can be admitted slowly as well as finely. The lime irritates 
the linings of the windpipe as well as those of the finer tubes of the 
chest and its use is followed by coughing and sneezing. This dislodges 
the worms, and repeated coughing brings up some of them. Care must 
be taken to limit the amount .of lime used, and air must be admitted in 
fair quantities. Too little air or too much lime long administered will 
cause a serious inflammation of the mucous membrane of the air pass- 
age. 

If gapes is introduced into your plant yoti should plan to raise all 
chicks the coming season on ground that has not been used for poultry 
purposes for several years. Plow and plant to some hoed crop all yards 
or ground that have been used for infected birds. After two years such 
land will probably be safe to use again for poultry. 

You are never sure you have the gapes unless you can find one or 
more of the worms. It is decidedly risky to treat for gapes unless you 
know you have that disease to contend with. A bird may gape or 
appear to have something in its throat and yet not have the "gape- 
worm" in its windpipe. There is lictle, if any, disturbance of the gen- 
eral system in the commencement of gapes, while in bronchitis or pneu- 
monia there is some rise in temperature. To use lime dust on birds 
sick with pneumonia or bronchitis is to do that which is likely to kill 
the bird. Better no treatment than thoughtless diagnosis of disease and 
an off-hand use of strong remedies. DR. N. W. SANBORN. 



60 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 

jnEDICINE IN THE POULTRY YARD. 



By Velma Caldwell Melville. 



[A series of articles giving actual experiences in treating fowls. Written expressly for 
the Reliable Poultrj' Journal. All rights reserved.] 

A prominent fancier ridicules the idea of doctoring fowls, giving as 
his remedy for all ills — a sharp axe. While there are times when this 
is deteidedly the medicine, still there are a majority of instances, espe- 
cially among thoroughbreds, where we may emploj^ milder and more 
profitable means. We have a homeopathic "book and box" — for we do 
not think harsh remedies should be used in the animal world — and will, 
in a series of short talks under the above caption, mention some of the 
ills, and their symptoms, that our feathered friends are heir to, also the 
remedies in each instance. 

Firsi, however, we will name some general remedies and tonics 
which are not, strictly speaking, in the "box." These may be employed 
whether one goes deeper into the science of "Medicine in the Poultry 
Yard" or not. 

Indigestion. 

In fowls, as in all other living creatures, digestion plays an impor- 
tant part in health. Indigestion means sickness. It is needless here to 
repeat the old story about plenty of grit, but perhaps some of our friends 
depend entirely upon this, when there are instances where it fails the 
chick even as our teeth sometimes fail us and! we have to "take some- 
thing." Some are inclined to sneer at tonics for man, beast or fowl. 
For those who are so circumstanced as to be able to have outdoor exer- 
cise and the like this is well, but yarded fovv^ls, like persons much in- 
doors, have sometimes to resort to artificial means. 

Here are three common and inexpensive remedies that act directly 
on the digestive organs — cayenne pepper, asafoetida and gentian. Char- 
coal acta as a purifier. For a simple tonic, we are told over and over 
to use iron, even rusty nails in the water being recommended. Then 
there is the far-famed Douglas Mixture, given elsewhere in this book. 
The Douglas Mixture should not be given oftener than every other day 
and twice a week is usually found sufficient. Sulphur we find a valued 
remedy in the poultry yard, but this, too, should be used with caution. 

Then there are the much-noted chicken powders. Certainly we find 
circumstances where they are decidedly advisable. Perhaps one of the 
best powders is compounded thus: Equal parts copperas, cayenne, sul- 
phur and resin. Pound together and mix well. 

Lime water is excellent for fowls in both sickness and health. The 
formula is simple. Slake eight ounces of good lime in a little water and 
then add water enough to make two gallons. Let stand until clear, pour 
off and set the lime away to make more, which is done by adding cold 
water, stirring well, and letting settle as before. 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 61 

Perhaps here we should insert a few cautions. In giving c'harcoal 
teach the chicks to eat it by iirst pulverizing and mixing with soft food; 
afterwards it can be kept before them in broken bits and they will take 
it as nature prompts. The pan of charcoal is a fixture at our "ranch." 
However, in soft form, the fowls are apt to get enough to clog the sys- 
tem. 

Some directions: The size of any dose of medicine given a fowl 
should be the same as for a child. To a chick two weeks old give the 
size one would to a child of six months; to one six weeks old, the 
dose for a child of one year; to one half grown, that for a two-year-old 
child; to one full grown, the dose for a child of three or four years. Give 
all medicine in solution if possible; if not, in pill. 

Above everything else, use common sense, a firm, gentle hand; and 
remember that no one remedy will cure everything; and that what will 
answer in one case may fail in another similar, the same as in the 
human family. 

Symptoms. 

In doctoring poultry, one must observe and study symptoms care- 
fully. 

Haven't time? 

Then don't go into the business, for it takes time to do a thing well, 
and to stand a show in the fancier's world now-a-days one must do well, 
and very well. When a bird dies make an intelligent autopsy and learn 
something. 

Of course, we all know that cleanliness is the great "preventive" 
and "cure" among fowls, but it is not everything. Look to the lice and 
mites first of all, however. Feed carefully, observe all that is written 
:n the poultry journals and if, after all this, your fowls are sick, try 
some of Lhe suggestions to be found in "Medicine in the Poultry Yard." 

It pays to make a thorough study of whatever business one is going 
into, not more surely broking or banking than fancying. To intelli- 
gently proceed to doctor a chicken one must know what a healthy one 
is like. For instance, to note carefully the condition of the bird when 
the heart, liver, etc., are in normal condition is soon to be able to dis- 
tinguish by symptoms when these organs are out of repair. 

By handling birds, studying them, being with them, one learns much 
about them. We know at once when one of our fowls is ailing, as there 
is seldom an hour in the day when some one of the family does not look 
them over. 

The inmates of one pen of heavy Barred Rocks have to be literally 
pushed out of one's way, they are so tame and so fond of petting. An- 
other pen of lighter birds fly on us the minute we enter the run, two 
or three disputing for standing room on our arms and hands at once. 
And then there are the White Rocks, so gentle and tame that we call 
them doves. The majority have names, and, as we stated, all are 
v/atched so clbsely that the slightest indisposition is noticed and prompt 
remedies applied, allowing, of course, for nature to cure first. 



62 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 

Colds, Indigestion, Constipation. 

Fowls have "bad colds." For this we give a few doses of aconite — 
third dilution — one drop every hour. If feverish symptoms accompany, 
alternate belladonna — same dilution and dose — with the aconite. 

For foul stomach, sudden indigestion or constipation, a drop of nux 
Tomica — third dilution — every two hours, usually corrects the difficulty. 

One must, however, be cautious about forming too hasty conclusions, 
as ofttimes very similar symptoms' indicate different diseases. In very 
complex or confusing cases it were well to sacrifice a bird or two for 
the purpose of determining the disease, thereby possibly saving the rest 
of the flock. 

First of all, be sure that vermin, a drafty hen house, impure water, 
unwholesome food, or some easily removable cause is not at the bottom 
of your trouble. Common sense suggests that in all contagious diseases 
the affected fowl be removed to separate quarters and these quarters 
afterward completely destroyed. 

Cholera. 

Cholera is perhaps the most dreaded of all the ills that poultry is 
heir to. In ordering these articles the editor asked for personal experi- 
ence, hut we are happy to say that we have had no personal experience 
in cholera, though it has been all about us time and again. In this pre- 
vention is far more valuahle and comfortable than cure, hence we will 
first name some preventives. Let a stiff paste of flour and water form 
one article on the bill of fare; corn soaked in kerosene some hours be- 
fore feeding, another. One day add sulphur to the soft food; the next, 
soda; the next, cayenne; the next, tincture of iron. The Douglas Mix- 
ture added to the food is another preventive. Feed a little charcoal occa- 
sionally. Add carbolic acid — a little — to the drink. Last, but by no 
means least, thoroughly clean up the poultry houses and runs. 

As to the "cures," they are legion. One excellent authority recom- 
mends ten drops of strong tincture of eucalyptus glohules, five grains 
common salt and one-half teaspoonful ground pepper. Give in a table- 
spoonful of water. 

Another advises one ounce of powdered garlic, two drachms tinc- 
ture of ca.psicum, two drachms tincture of camphor, one-half ounce rhu- 
harb, one drachm tincture of opium, thre drachms oil of peppermint. 
Mix well and give from six to eight drops three times a day in a tea- 
spoonful of water. 

Other fanciers have successfully carried their flocks through on 
equal parts cayenne pepper, alum, resin and sulphur. Mix and put in the 
food once a day a tablespoonful to three pints scalded meal. 

Still another is, two tablespoonfuls Epsom salts, four of lime and 
ten drops tincture of iron added to a gallon of meal. 

Lastly, we give Dr. Dickies' "heroic" pills to be used for fowls too 
far gone to eat, not claiming them as strictly homeopathic, though 
recommended by homeopathic authority: "Sixty grains of blue mass. 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 63 

twenty-five grains pulverized camphor, thirty grains cayenne pepper, 
forty-eight grains pulverized rhubarb, sixty drops laudanum. Mix and 
form into twenty pills. Give one every five hours. After there or four 
have been taken, give each bird half teaspoonful castor oil and ten drops 
laudanum. Give a scanty drink of scalded sour milk with the Douglas 
Mixture added in such quantity that twenty-five fowls will get one gill 
per day. Give no other drink." 

Bowel Trouble, Constipation. 
If it -.3 "actual experience" that is wanted, we feel that we are right 
at home for life these days is just nothing but "actual experience." You 
see we take the chicks from the hens as fast as they hatch-and some- 
times when several hens come off at once they hatch pretty fast-put- 
ting them in a basket beside a warm brick well wrapped. We hope it 
not amiss here to drop a caution-do not cover too closely (the chicks, 
not the ])rick). We did this, to our sorrow, the other day. 

As soon as thev commence eating, which is from twenty-four to 
thirty-six hours after hatching, begin the danger and "experience." It 
does seem as if some chicks were predestined to live, others to die. But 
we do not let the latter fate work out if we can help it, especially m 
high-bred chicks. 

Bowel trouble is aJbout the first bugbear to be faced, and we lost a 
half dozen with it early in the season. Vainly we searched our "book" 
for something that would apply to the case. It all seemed too over- 
grown; then wo tried a little common sense. Several White Rock beau- 
ties became afCected and we simply made them a "cup of tea." Does not 
every one know that "store" tea is an astringent? We made it rather 
weak, but gave them nothing else to drink for a day. It would have 
delighted a genuine tea drinker's heart to have seen the pretty heads 
bob up and down as they sipped their tea. The way we came to think of 
this was recalling an instance when we cured a pet kitten of a bad case 
of diarrhoea by dosing him with tea. Of course, there exists the danger 
of constipation ensuing, but only one of ours fell a victim. 

For constipation we again sought the "book;" but this time we 
turned to the department for birds instead of fowls. Of course what 
would suit a cage bird would be more suitable for a baby chick than the 
remedy described for a full grown chicken. "A drop of castor oil every 
hour until the difficulty is removed." It worked like a charm. 

While studying this matter we learned that the juice of yellow car- 
rots, used alone as the drink, is a cure for constipation; also that poppy 
seed is an excellent remedy for diarhhoea and dysentery. In severe cases 
of the latter give two drops of tincture of opium in the drink. 

Pip. 

Then there came another morning when about thirty white chicks 
awoke with the appearance of having taken cold. How hoarse their 
voices, and— yes, there was one well-defined case of pip even to the little 
hard scale on the end of his tongue. Just at first, however, we were mis- 



64 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 

led by his continually opening his mouth. "Gapes!" we said, and 
straightway administered camphor, because this is our remedy — a suc- 
cessful one usually in gapes. But matters grew woi-se instead of better. 
When convinced that it was pip we went to work on a new line. You 
see the book stood by us in this instance and we diagnosed the case 
easily. 

Symptoms of pip-scale on tip of tongue, a peculiar pip or "zip" 
noise; breaithing disturbed and effected through the mouth; dry tongue, 
listless, indigestion. The scientific treatment is "warm quarters; cas- 
tor oil if constipated. Apply to tongue and nostrils a weak solution of 
chlorinated soda, if any local remedy is used, but do not clip end off 
tongue as some recommend." Spongia may be used with good effect; 
but the best, simplest and surest treatment advocated is two or three 
grains of black pepper each day in fresh butter. We happened to have 
no spongia in the box, though it is a favorite remedy for throat trouble 
in man and beast here, and did not like to put the grains of pepper down, 
so tiny a throat. We successfully cured the patient, however, by feed- 
ing him cold potato pretty freely, sprinkled with ground black pepper, 
giving two doses of castor oil — a'bout one drop to the dose — keeping 
him very warm. The others that were hoarse required only heat, a drop 
of carbolic acid in the drinking water and careful feeding. 

While so much is being said and written on "what to feed young 
chicks," it may seem superfluous and even out of place in these talks 
for us to have a word on the subject, but we must venture to endorse all 
who say use dry bread crumbs the first two or three days, giving water 
every two or three hours, but not allowing any one chick to drink too 
much. After this introduce rolled oats and millet seed, and a little later 
still cracked wheat. After chicks are a week old finely chopped meat 
is excellent for them. 

Of course, feeding makes or mars the need of medicine in the poul- 
try yard to a great extent, but it is not all. Another morning a crate of 
baby chicks were dumpish; would not eat, and huddled disconsolately 
together. We were sure they were going to die, but as we did not know 
what ailed them we could not give medicine. A quiet day, with a little 
extra heat and care and rather light feeding did for them much the same 
that such treatment does for a dumpish person. There are plenty of 
times when a judicious letting alone is the remedy needed, especially 
with young birds. 

One day the "gude mon" carried all the crates to a place in the barn 
where a few hens had been fed at one time. Sitting there was a box of 
coal ashes, and as the hens had used it for toilet purposes the floor was 
thickly strewn with ashes and tiny cinders. It reminded one of nothing 
so much as bees around honey to see the little fellows crowd around 
and pick, pick, pick. It carried its own lesson. 

We use sand, finely cracked charcoal and bran as regulators. A 
treat in the way of a baked potato, broken open, keeps the little fellows 
happy and busy for an hour. 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 65 

Roup, Canker. 
. A friend gives us the following bit of experience with roup: 

"I thought to improve my stock of chickens by investing in a stan- 
dard-bred rooster, and he was a beauty. But one day the chore boy 
came in and told me my rooster was 'dumping around; seemed sick.' I 
had him brought into the house and I should think he was sick! Rags 
of canker an inch long hung from his mouth; his tongue was covered 
and his throat completely filled. The odor was terrible and my hus- 
band said 'Kill him.' But I determined to see what I could do. I spread 
newspapers on the floor and stood him on them. My liusband held his 
bill apart while I, with a long swab and a solution of carbolic acid and 
water, cleaned all the canker from his mouth and throat. I had to dig 
pretty hard and it bled freely, but it was the only way. I then blew 
sulphur into his mouth and down his throat and fed him on very warm 
bread and milk. I had to poke it down with a stick, but I filled his 
crop and then put him in a warm stall in the barn. I burned everything 
that I had used about him. I had to repeat this treatment twice a day 
for several days, but finally had the satisfaction of knoiwing I had cured 
a severe case or roup. If it had been a common bird it would not have 
paid for the trouble." (Rather heroic treatment, but well worth know- 
ing.) 

Next to cholera, roup is the most dreaded disease among fowls. It 
IS very contagious; begins in the lining membrane of the beak, but rap- 
idly spreads until it takes in the whole system. An autopsy usually 
shows the liver and gall-bladder full of pus. It 'is oftener called by other 
names, such as diphtheria, influenza, bronchitis or quinsy. It chiefly 
attacks old birds, but all ages may have it. The flrst symptoms are like 
those of a bad cold; especially marked are the fever and thirst. At first 
the discharge from the head is thin and almost white, but rapidly grows 
thick. 

As stated, the odor is very bad. The disease should be checked in 
the first stages, and an eminent writer advises that in a flock where 
roup is suspected every fowl should be examined under the wings in the 
morning to ascertain if the feathers are stuck together with the dis- 
charge from the nostrils during the night. Visit the perches late at 
night and listen for obstructed breathing. Immediately attend to reliev- 
ing one that breathes hard and remove it from the flock. Too great care 
cannot be observed in regard to cleanliness where this disease exists. 
Burn droppings and all. Feed warm, stimulating food with cayenne 
pepper in it. Onions chopped fine and mixed with the feed are helpful. 
Keep the patients warm and dry. 

One book says that no known medicine will cure all cases of roup, 
but that German Roup Pills will cure when anything can. As an accom- 
paniment it recommends "three pills daily as large as a pea, made of 
mustard and ground ginger. Also give pepper tea." 

Again we are told to try three pills a day, as large as a fowl can 
swallow, made of equal parts of pulverized sulphur, powdered charcoal 



66 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 

and new yeast with stimulant as given above. In all cases put powdered 
charcoal in the food. Castor oil, a teaspoonful at a dose, is advisable 
from beginning to finish. In the absence of any other wash for the beak, 
throat and head, use castile soap and warm water. When the discharge 
is excessive take a common machine oil can and inject some camphor- 
ated sweet oil through the external openings or from the inside, through 
the slits in the roof of the mouth. Where excessive difficulty in breath- 
ing exists steaming the head sometimes affords relief. Take care in 
this operation. When a bird begins to get well give a tincture of iron 
tonic, or some of the other tonics mentioned in a previous article. 

Of course, almost everyone has a roup cure, but it would have to be 
a valuable fowl that we would handlo through a siege of the loathsome 
disease, although if taken in time it would not be so bad. In our opin- 
ion "prevention is better than cure," and we have the idea that dry, 
comfortable quarters will prevent roup, at least if coupled with cleanli- 
ness and w'holesome food. 

There is a common canker among fowls that may be mistaken for 
the more dreaded disease. Wash the parts, eyes, mouth and throat, in 
warm castile waiter if there is a gummy discharge. Clean out the throat 
and mouth with a weak solution of chlorate of potash, alum and water. 
AVash off the canker and apply powdered borax in small quantities to 
the spots bared by the process. Powdered burnt alum may be good for 
white ulcers on the tongue. 

Mites, Lice, Sleepiness, Watery Eyes. 

More and more as the days go by are we impressed with the fact 
that the "ounce of prevention" is better than the "pound of cure;" and 
more and more are we convinced that vermin and injudicious feeding 
are the diseases of young chicks. Our losses this year have been almost 
wholly along these two lines. But as this series of talks does not deal 
presumably with either of these, we only pause to say that if your young 
chicks are not doing well, vermin is almost sure to be at the bottom of 
the difficulty, whether you discover the pests or not. Here is a place to 
exercise your faith in some of the unseen realities; yet ten to one mites 
are sucking' the life out of the little birds by night and the gray head- 
louse is getting in its deadly work both night and day. Use insect pow- 
der regularly whether you think they need it or not. 

We have succeeded in kilLing a number of fine birds this summer 
by feeding them on cold boiled potatoes. At first we were delighted 
with the plan (feeding the potatoes^— not killing the chicks). The little 
fellows enjoyed chasing the tempting white balls and pecking at them, 
but when there was a failure to digest, resulting in the mass souring in 
the crop, there was the end of enjoyment for both fancier and fowl. 
Tlie crop became distended and froth arose in the throat, pro'ducing 
gaping and finally suffocation. Some of the crops we opened and t'Ae 
seething stuff forced itself out with a hissing sound, but it did not save 
t^^he chicken. 

One other "fatal feature" among our young birds has been prema- 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 67 

ture wing feathering. In some instances a bird of three or four weeks 
would have wings dragging 'the ground. Chicks of a week have pro- 
nounced wing feathers. Of course the feathers sap the strength and 
the bird droops and probably dies. Clipping the feathers will stop their 
growth and help the bird. 

Some of our neighbors have had hens aff.licted with the "sleepy 
sickness" this summer. The bird droops around, sleeping and drinking 
—that is all. Giving them no other drink than strong copperas water 
effected a cure. 

If your fowls have been housed so poorly as to have sore, watery 
eyes, wash the eyes with a weak solution of sulphate of zinc, with alum 
water, or with a solution of alum and camphor. Put sulphur in the food 
and furnish clean, dry quarters. 

Apoplexy, Paralysis, Staggers. 

As fowls are subject to apoplexy, paralysis, staggers and kindred 
diseases, all simJlar in symptoms and treatment, it may not be neces- 
sary to be able to exactly discriminate between them. They are affec- 
tions of the nervous system due to an excessive flow of blood to the 
brain. If unconsciousness ensues after dizziness, staggering, whirling 
in a circle and like maneuvers, it is probably apoplexy, and as soon as 
the blood leaves the head the bird will be all right. If, however, a 
blood vessel is burst the disease is paralysis and death is likely to result, 
though there may be only the loss of the use of the limb. 

In any of these cases turn a stream of cold water on the Ihead until 
the blood is driven away, and afterward feed lightly. Give aconite if 
the skin is dry and hot; belladonna for heat and convulsive movement 
of the head. Nux vom.ica at the first indications of the disease will 
probably prevent it. Give opium in apoplexy. For some days after 
recovery begins, give five grains of bromide of potassium twice a day. 

Gapes. 

Gapes sound as alarming to the fancier as does croup to a mother; 
and we more often find treatment prescribed for this disease in the poul- 
try pnblieations than for any other. Of course everyone has seen pic- 
tures of the gapeworm and it may be that quite a number have seen the 
original of the picture. At best they are not pretty things and they are 
alarmingly prolific. There are a number of theories rife as to how the 
eggs are carried, one being that lice carry them, another that the' gape- 
worm is one of the forms assumed by the louse. Constant gaping is the 
symptom, but is attended by difficult breathing, coughing, wheezing, 
attempts to swallow, droopy appearance. Of course there is gaping 
without gapes, as we have already said, but it does not take a long time 
for an over critical observer to determine the real disease. 

For treatment for gapes we have found small pills of camphor gum 
excellent. Some prefer to put clear carbolic acid into an iron spoon and 
hold it over a burning lamp until dense white fumes envelop the bird's 
head. Vapor from burning creosote or turpentine, or the fumes from 
sulphur, will do nearly or quite as well if properly applied. 



68 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 

There are still others who adhere to the practice of swabbing the- 
throat with a feather wet in kerosene, turpentine, strong salt water, or 
a weak decoction of tobacco. Our book says: ''Powdered alum or sul- 
phur, blown down the windpipe, will often kill the worms" (and patient^ 
too, if administered too freely or too often). Some resort to crushed 
corn, soaked in kerosene oil or alum water, but we could never get our 
fowls to eat enough of such diet to work wonders. 

Here again the ounce of prevention is much handier and cheaper 
than the pound of cure. If the drinking water is suspected, boil it. If 
a fowl is attacked with the gapes, remove it at once from the rest and 
burn all food, perches anything and everything that it has come in 
contact with. Where this cannot be done, soak everything in kerosene 
oil or carbolic acid. Perfect cleanliness and a change of food may work 
wonders in an infected flock. 

Worms. 

Worms in the stomach and indigestion are much alike in symptoms, 
but otherwise very unlike. 

A well-known breeder and authority thus describes a hen he bought 
in a high-priced trio: "I saw at a glance that there was something 
wrong; she was emaciated; had the appearance of chronic diarrhoea, 
and ate ravenously. I watched the spot where the bird roosted and 
found indications of mucous and slime, which, to my mind, pointed to 
worms. I shut her up forty-eight hours, without food, and then gave 
her two- thirds of a teaspoonful areca nut powder. The next morning 
abbut twenty long, white worms lay coiled together where she had 
dropped them. I then gave one-half teaspoonful castor oil and she got 
well." 

Personally, we use santonine. 

Diarrhoea, Dysentery. 

Diarrhoea and dysentery may result from tainted food, impure 
water, extreme heat, filthy quarters, inflamed intestines, etc. In dysen- 
tery the droppings are frothy and mingled with blood. The bird fails 
rapidly. In common diarrhoea the droppings are of various colors and 
befoul the feathers. In old female birds there is sometimes a continual 
white discharge, which indicates a low state of the system and some- 
thing wrong in the shell making function. 

There are a number of remedies for these. troubles, one perhaps as 
good as another. In early stages, finely powdered chalk on boiled rice 
will do. For the trouble mentioned with the old fowls the powdered 
chalk and rice is a good remedy, as is also lime water. 

In all these cases a pill, to be taken twice a day and made as fol- 
lows, is highly recommended: Five grains powdered chalk, five of 
rhubarb and three of cayenne pepper, adding one-half a grain of opium 
in severe cases. Camphorated spirits is another efficacious remedy — 
three to six grains, on barley meal, to each fowl, or fifteen drops or so 
in a pint of drinking water. A little alum or tincture of iron in the 
drinking water is also beneficial. 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 69 

In an assured case of dysentery, the odds are against the bird, but if 
It is worth saving put it on a diet of milk gruel and give a dose of castor 
oil. to be followed by four or five drops of laudanum every three hours. 
TCeep the patient in a dry, moderately warm place. If diarrhoea becomes 
chronic, try frequent small doses of sweet oil. Bone dust is a preventive 
of this disorder, and it is well to use it for some days after a case is pro- 
nounced cured. In all these difficulties one must keep the eye open for 
.cholera. 

Cholera. 

Speaking of cholera, have any of cur fanciers tried vaccination? 

W. H.. Griffith, of Zanesville, Ohio, writes: "Vaccinate a hen and 
in eight days her system will be thoroughly inoculated; then cut off 
her head and catch all h«r blood in a vessel; then pour it on some paper 
to dry. A half drop of this dried blood is sufficient to vaccinate a fowl. 
Catch the bird, scratch or cut a place on the thigh so as to nearly start 
the blood and upon this place the bit of paper on which the virus has 
-dried and let the fowl run. You need not fear of its ever having chol- 
era. During the last two years I have vaccinated the poultry in nine- 
teen yards where cholera was prevailing badly. All died that were not 
operated on. Out of two thousand vaccinated only eleven died." 

The above is interesting, to say the least. The virus, we believe, 
-may be obtained at many of our University Experiment Stations. 

Another writer tells of his success in curing cholera with table salt; 
also Epsom salts. 

Constipation. 

In constipation among fowls add ten drops of sulphate of magnesia 
to each pint of drinking water. 

If you have homeopathic remedies give nux vomica, aconite and 

bryonia in the si7,ed doses mentioned for such remedies in a former 

-article. 

Consumption. 

If a cold or catarrh runs into consumption, dispatch the bird at 
once. There is no cure. 

Rheumatism, 

Rheumatism sometimes results from damp quarters or running in 
the wet grass. If it affects the legs, bathe them with very warm mus- 
tard water, wine dry and anoint with witch-hazel ointment, lard or 

sweet oil. 

Leg Weakness. 

For log weakness give rest, nourishment and tonic. Raw fresh egg 
and a little cooked meat are strengthening. Give iron in the drinking 
^ater. 

The chief symptom of leg weakness is the fashion of continually 
squatting on the hocks. Wheat, brrley and other • articles that do 
not tend to make fat may be fed. If the weather is warm, bathe the legs 
two or three times a day in cold water. Lime water may be helpful. 
As a remedy give a pill three times a day, made as follows: Five grains 



70 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 

phosphate of lime one-sixteenth of a grain of strychnine and one-hall 
grain of sulphate of quinine. 

Molting. 

During the molting season too much care cannot be given the fowls, 
as it is of the utmost importance that they (especially the laying hens) 
get through quickly and without deterioration. Keep iron, at least 
rusty nails, in the drinking water; feed lean meat and add a teaspoonful 
of Douglas Mixture to each pint of drinking water. Give soft, warm 
food in the morning and grain at night. 

Calcarea carbonica is also a valuable remedy. 

Broken Bones. 

In case of broken bones, unless the bird is very valuable, the sooner 
its misery is ended the better. However, should youi have occasion to 
set a broken leg, bring the ends together until they fit neatly to the 
toiich and cover the part with thick paper previously soaked in white 
of egg or mucilage. Bind on bits of pasteboard, being careful that all 
the dressing fits the leg neatly. Keep the bird by itself and' try to pre- 
vent its moving or using the limb. If fever ensues, give aconite inter- 
rally and shower the leg with cold water. 

Injuries; Torn Side. 

We had two valuable hens badly torn and lacerated on the side 
under the wing: one it seemed a sin to let live an hour. She appeared 
to feel well, however, and as we had just paid a large price for them, w© 
thought best to try to save them. First we washed the wounds out 
carefully with warm water and castile soap, dusted in. iodoform and 
bound new unbleached muslin about their bodies. They improved 
slowly until one day one of the hens simply horrified us by slipping her 
bandage and giving herself a thorough dusting. But lo, from that hour 
her recovery savored of the miraculous! Blessed Mother Nature! 

VELMA C. MELVILLE. 



TAPEWORM 



There was brought to the Reliable Poultry Journal office in Febru- 
ary, 1897, a bottle of alcohol containing a tapeworm three feet long, 
which came away from a Golden Wyandotte hen. The worm was com- 
plete, head and all. The hen in question ate heartily, but lost flesh and 
gradually weakened. The owner could not discover what was the matter 
with her. She had no cold, ate well, but became distressingly poor and 
weak. Finally he thought of worms. Acting on this theory, he kept 
her without food for thirty-six hours, then gave her a full feed of stewed 
garlic, cut in short lengths. She ate heartily of this and the next d'ay 
the owner had the three-foot tapeworm in alcohol. The hen began to 
mend immediately, regained her normal flesh, and was soon as well as 
ever. 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 71 

COLDS. 

Fowls easily catch cold, especially when roosting in a draft. The 
eyes water, the nostrils give off a thin liquid and the face becomes red 
and more or less swollen. Simple, so-called roup remedies will correct 
this. A common practice is to clean out the nostrils with a piece of 
soft cloth and inject into each nostril, also into the cleft in the roof of 
the mouth, a couple of drops of a half and half mixture of sweet oil and 
kerosene, to which has been added a little carbolic acid, five to ten drops 
to a gill of the oils, or a little turpentine. Also rub some of the mixture 
on comb and face. Keep the birds up for three or four days, or longer, 
if necessary, protecting them from all drafts and feeding soft food spar- 
ingly. Do not feed much of anything. 

Smoking Resin for Colds. 
A subscriber to the Reliable Poultry Journal relates the following 
experience with chickens which she found with swelled heads, some 
being totally blind: "We prepared a hospital and smoked them with 
resin, putting a piece of resin the size of a walnut on some live coals in 
a vessel in the hospital. In bad cases we put them in a separate box 
and anointed the head and eyes with lard and kerosene oil, with a drop 
or two of carbolic acid in the mixture, and in a day or two they were all 
right." 

Vaseline for Colds. 

Another correspondent says ho has cured even the most severe 
eases of cold with vaseline alone in from one to four days. He anoints 
the head and in bad cases puts a little in the mouth. Since he discov- 
ered the above remedy, he says he has never lost a bird from colds or 
roup. 

How to Avoid Colds in Fowls. 

Ordinary colds are not due to bad food or filth, and are not contag- 
ious, but they can usually be traced to one cause — some fault in the 
roosting quarters. Chickens should not roost in boxes in summei' time, 
nor should more than ten or fifteen roost together on the floor. It is in 
roosting on the ground that the greatest harm is done. Twenty or 
thirty chickens may roost on perches and not get overheated from 
crowding, but if the sa.me number roost on the floor, or even out in the 
open air on the ground, no matter how warm the weather, they will 
bunch up together and those in the middle get overheated and take cold. 
Chicks that roost on perches in the open air have the le^ast trouble with 
colds. For summer roosts we make a scaffold five or six feet high and 
cover it with brush and weeds, which will keep off the heavy rains, and 
also the sun. Under this, two feet from the ground, place the perches. 
As soon as the chicks are well feathered out remove the coop and place 
the arbor with perches in its stead. 

COLDS AND INDIGESTION. 

Where a cold is accompanied by a looseness of the bowels, pills 
made as follows are recommended by the North Carolina Experiment 



72 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 

Station and have proved effective on Reliable PoultiT Farm: One table- 
spoonful of lard, two tablespoonfuls of mustard, ginger and cayenne pep- 
per. Work together thoroughly and stiffen with flour; make into pills 
about the size of the first joint of the little finger. Give one pill twice 
or three times a day, according to the severity of the case. In mild 
cases give one pill each day, evening preferred. 

AIR PUFF, OR EMPHYSEMA. 

There is a disease from which chickens suffer called emphysema, 
"air in the tissues." It reaches the blood through the lungs. When the 
lung trouble is remedied, which nature alone can do, the emphysema 
stops, and if not too excessive, the air will gradually disappear from the 
tissues by absorption: but if it is very abundant, it may result in death. 

Some relief may be rendered by pricking the skin and allowing the 
air near the surface of the body to escape. Indeed, this may save 
life in some cases that would die if left to nature, but it will not save 
life in all cases. The lung trouble upon which the emphysema depends 
is one of a transmatic character — a wound of the lungs, or an abrasion 
of Jung tissue, resulting from violence of some kind. Chicks that get 
trampled on by their mothers, or cockerels that fight, are more liable to 
suffer from injuries that result in emphysema — they become inflated 
with air. 

LEG WEAKNESS. 

Leg weakness is generally due to the body increasing in weight out 
of proportion to the strength of the legs. This is the usual cause, but 
any dise^ase that weakens the chick may cause it. The disease usually re- 
sults from too heavy feeding without sufficient exercise area. The symp- 
toms are a trembling in the legs and a disposition to rest on the hocks. 
If the bird is vigorous it will outgrow the trouble, but any treatment to 
be beneficial, must be resorted to on the appearance of the first symp- 
toms. Far food, give bran, wheat and! oatmeal; instead of water, give 
skim milk. Cook oatmeal, and when cool, add thirty drops of 
diluted phosphoric acid for each bird affected, and give twice daily. Be 
careful not to confound leg weakness with rheumatism. In the latter 
disease there is always swelling of the joints. If ducks are atta^cked 
by leg weakness, feed them more bulky food, bran, shipstuff, etc. Give 
them chopped vegetables. Stop giving them corn until they are strong 
again. Then feed in moderation. 

LIMBER NECK. 

Chicks are sometimes affected in this manner, caused, perhaps, by 
unusually hot days and nights. A remedy that has been successfully 
used is this: Hypo-sulphite of soda; dissolve one teaspoonful in half 
a cup of water, and give a teaspoonful of the mixture to each affected 
fowl every two or three hours. A teaspoonful of the hypo-sulphite in a 
quart of drinking water is also a good remedy. 

The following is said to never fail: Give the affected bird a piece 
of assofoetida about the size of a pea. Use the gum form. Repeat 
the dose the second day. and the trouble gradually disappears. 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 73 

FEATHER EATING. 

This mischievous habit is the result of confining fowls too closely 
and allowing them to be idle. One preventive is to keep the fowls busy 
as much of the time as possible scratching for their daily bread. A 
strip of salt pork hung up in the hen house is a preventive and will 
sometimes check the trouble. Another effective remedy is to bathe the 
feathers that are being plucked out with a half and half mixture of 
whisky and aloes. Aloes can be obtained in small quantities at any 
drug store. 'As soon as the fowls are given liberty they will get over 
this habit. 

MOLTING HENS. 

During the molting period when the fowls are undergoing a severe 
strain, it is well to feed good green bone in liberal amount, also, to mix 
linseed meal with the soft food. The process of putting on a full new 
coat of feathers is a drain on the system which good green bone and the 
linseed meal will largely counteract; or give them a generous supply 
of bone meal, charcoal, meat and vegetables. Tincture of iron in the 
drinking water, and a few pinches of red pepper occasionally, make a 
tonic for them. 

KEROSENE EMULSION FOR LICE. 

There is no question of the value of kerosene emulsion, or its safety 
when properly made and used, and its cheapness makes possible its free 
use up to saturation of all cracks and crevices. It should be made of 
strong whale oil soap, one-half pound; kerosene, two gallons. Shave the 
soap into thin slices and dissolve in boiling water. When fully dis- 
solved and boiling hot, add the kerosene, awaj"- from the fire, and vio- 
lently churn the solution into a thick cream. Churn and agitate vio- 
lently for twenty minutes. If the oil and water separate on standing, 
then the soap v/as not caustic enough. Add to this ten gallons of water 
and spray the whole outfit to saturation. This solution' can be made by 
the barrelful and if well emulsified will keep indefinitely, to be diluted 
when needed, 

DOUGLAS MIXTURE, 

"Douglas Mixture" is made thus: Take of sulphate of iron Ccom- 
nicn copperas) eight ounces; sulphuric acid, one-half fiuid ounce. Put 
into a bottle or jug, one gallon of water, into this put the sulphate of 
iron. As soon as the iron is dissolved add the acid, and when it is clear, 
the "mixture is ready for use. In hot weather or when the fiock is 
small, less may. be prepared at once, but the above proportion should 
be observed. This "mixture" or tonic should be given in the drinking 
water every other day — a gill for every twenty-five head is not too much 
and where there is infection it must be used every day, but where there 
is no disease, not so often, or in smaller quantities if it be used every 
day. This preparation, simple as it is, is one of the best tonics for poul- 
try known.* It is alterative as well as tonic, and possesses, besides, an- 
tiseptic properties which make it a remedy as well as a tonic. 



74 RELIABLE POULTR REMEDIES. 

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RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 75 

detail of the work successfully and how to avoid mistakes that spoil 
the profits. It contains plans for constructing and using incubator 
houses and brooding houses, for small or large plants, so fully explained 
and illustrated that any one can build them. Complete directions are 
given for securing good fertile eggs and for hatching strong, healthy 
chicks. The most successful methods of brooding and feeding chicks 
intended for broilers, roasters or for breeding stock are given in detail. 
Killing, dressing, packing and marketing are fully and clearly explained. 
This book contains many illustrations of successful broiler raising 
establishments and describes the methods that make them successful. 
92 pages. Price, 50 cents, postpaid. 

THE PLYMOUTH ROCKS. 

Barred, Buff and White. A book of reliable and complete informa- 
tion on mating, breeding, selecting, exhibiting and judging America's 
most popular standard breed. It describes their practical qualit^ies, 
explains the standard requirements for each variety, and tells how to 
prepare them for the show room. It gives full instructions for mating, 
each variety to produce exhibition specimens and explains single and 
double mating and line breeding. 

After studying this book the breeder will know what birds to ex- 
hibit, will understand the principal defects found when judging, and 
know how much they are discounted by prominent judges. This infor- 
mation is reliable; it is written by Plymouth Rock breeders and judges 
with national reputations. This book contains 114 pages. It is illus- 
trated by 21 charts of fowls and feathers, 11 of which are full page 
plates, 58 pictures of winning Plymouth Rocks. It also contains full 
page plates of each variety in its natural colors made from painting by 
P. L. Sewell. Price, 50 cents, postpaid. 



THE BANTAM FOWL. 

How to Breed Bantams for Pleasure and Profit. A complete, illus- 
trated, down-to-date book that describes all varieties of Bantams and 
tells the best methods of breeding and raising them. It tells how to 
select and mate the breeding fowls, how to feed and care for the pro- 
geny and how to select and prepare the best specimens for exhibition. 
The best and most convenient houses for Bantams are described and 
illustrated. A chapter on diseases describes the symptoms and gives 
simple remedies for the common diseases. 72 pages. Price, 75 cents,, 
pos'ipaid. 



THE WYANDOTTES. 

Silver, Golden, White, Buff, Black, Partridge and Silver Penciled. 
The best down-to-date information about the above varieties of Wyan- 
dottes can be found in this book. The leading Wyandotte breeders and 
judges give the results of their years of experience in mating, breeding, 
exhibiting and judging the different varieties of this popular American 
breed. It states plainly how winning exhibition Wyandottes are pro- 
duced and how they are prepared to win prizes. The judging of each, 
variety is thoroughly explained by prominent judges. Perfect and de- 
fective shape and color in each section are described and illustrated by 
charts and photos and the cuts made for each defect] when scoring are 
enumerated. This information will enable the breeder to judge every 
bird in his yards and know its value for breeding and exhibition. This 
book contains over 80 illustrations and two beautiful color plates from 
paintings by the world's greatest poultry artist, Pranklane L. Sewell. 
86 pages. Price, 50 cents, postpaid. 



76 RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. 

ASIATICS. 
Brahmas, Cochins and Langshans. The best information on every 
point in mating, breeding, selecting, exhibiting and judging all varie- 
ties of Brahmas, Cochins and Langshans is given in this work. It is 
written by breeders and judges who are regarded as the highest author- 
ity. It tells of the origin of Asiatic breeds and describes their devel- 
opment. Their value for market and for egg production is discussed 
and the best methods of housing and feeding are given. The standard 
reciuirements for shape and color are clearly and fully described and 
illustrated by charts and photographs showing the shape of the ideal 
male and female and the distribution of color on each section. This 
information cannot be obtained elsewhere and is of positive value to 
every breeder of Asiatics who earnestly strives to be in the front rank. 
The color plates from paintings by Sewell, showing Buff and Partridge 
Cochins in their natural color, are worth more than the price of the 
iDOok, but there are 72 other illustrations, including photographs of 
prominent winners at the largest exhibitions. 100 pages. Price, 50 
cents, postpaid. 



DUCKS AND GEESE. 

How to Succeed With Water Fowls. A practical manual giving in 
full the best methods of housing and caring for laying ducks and feed- 
ing for fertile eggs. It describes the methods of hatching, brooding 
and feeding the ducklings employed on exclusive duck ranches and by 
those who make the growing of ducks and geese a profitable branch of 
their business. It instructs the reader how to secure good hatches with 
incubators; how to heat and care for the brooders; how to prepare the 
iood and feed the ducklings to produce the fastest growth. It tells how 
to develop and fatten the ducks intended for market and how to dress, 
pack and ship them to receive the highest prices. It tells what build- 
ings are required and how to build them. Everything that a poultry- 
.man need^ to know in order to make duck and goose raising profitable 
is contained in this book. 68 pages. Price, 50 cents, postpaid. 



TURKEYS. 

How to Raise Turkeys Profitably. Turkey raising is one of the 
most profitable branches of farm and poultry industry. It requires but 
little capital and practically no equipment. The experiences of Ameri- 
<?a's successful turkey raisers, fully illustrated by color plate and draw- 
ings by Sewell and by photos, are given in this book. It tells how tur- 
keys are raised with the least expense for labor and food, how they are 
grown to secure the best development and how they are fattened for 
market or prepared for sale as breeders. It contains full instructions for 
preparing exhibition birds to win in the show room. It tells what the 
Standard of Perfection requires in male and female Bronze Turkeys 
and explains and illustrates judging by score card. Any one interested 
in turkeys for either pleasure or profit should not be without this book. 
■S4. pages. Price, 50 cents, postpaid. 



THE LEGHORNS. 

Brown, White, Black, Buff and Duckwing. An illustrated Leghorn 
Standard with a thorough treatise on judging Leghorns and complete 
instructions on breeding, mating and exhibiting, by America's best Leg- 
horn breeders and judges. Every breeder of these varieties needs this 
hook. It will enable him to "cut cross lots" to success and avoid the 
'stumbling blocks" that might otherwise delay his progress. It tells 
-which bird to select for breeding and how to mate them so that they 



RELIABLE POULTRY REMEDIES. IT 

will produce their equal or better. It describes and illustrates the stan- 
dard shape and color of each section and the symmetry of each bird^ 
so that the reader can intelligently select his best specimens to exhibit. 
The chapters on judging tell how much the defects in shape and color 
of each section are discounted by prominent judges. The book has a. 
irue-to-life color plate of Single Comb White Leghorns and 37 other 
illustrations, including charts and drawings by F. L. Sewell. 78 pages. 
Price, 50 cents, postpaid. 



EGGS AND EGG FARMS. 

How to Make Money on Market Eggs. Every one knows that 
money can be made by producing eggs for market if it is done right. 
This book gives the correct methods of doing every detail of the work 
so as to secure the greatest profit. It gives the best methods of feeding 
and caring for pullets to promote maturity and early laying; describes 
and illustrates the best houses for layers; contains directions for feed- 
ing to produce eggs in fall and winter when prices are high. The suc- 
cessful methods of preserving eggs to keep them until the price goes 
up are given and every detail of the work described. It tells how to 
make and use trap nests to find the best layers and increase the egg 
yield by breeding from them. The requirements of the egg trade and. 
the manner of marketing are fully described. Poultrymen who are suc- 
cessful in this work describe their plants and methods. Every word 
in the book is the result of experience and may be taken for its face 
value. 100 pages. Price, 50 cents, postpaid. 

POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES. 
Plans for Practical Buildings and Equipment. This book con-^ 
tains plans of practical poultry houses for use on village lots and on 
exclusive poultry farms. It illustrates and gives all the details for con- 
structing scratching shed houses, and houses with closed fronts, for use 
in warm or cold climate. It also contains a collection of plans and in- 
structions for making roosts and drop boards; nest boxes; feeding racks- 
and troughs, for fowls and chicks; watering devices for warm and cold 
weather— for old and young birds; grit and oyster shell boxes; coops 
for little chicks, with and without yards; coops for weaning chicks; 
roosting coops; shelter coops; coops for brooding hens; shipping coops; 
door fasteners, and other appurtenances of poultry keeping. Every house 
and fixture described in this book is in use on the plant of a successful 
poultryman, is simple, labor saving and reasonable in cost. 36 pages. 
Price, 25 cents, postpaid. 

THE CHICK BOOK. 

The Successful Methods of Rearing Chicks. A book of thorough 
and reliable instruction -on rearing chicks. The experience of success- 
ful poultry raisers is given and dependable information furnished on all 
problems connected with the breeding, rearing, developing and fatten- 
ing of chickens. It includes chapters on condition of the breeding 
stock; selecting and incubating the eggs: brooding, feeding and caring 
for the chicks from the time they are hatched until they are ready for 
market or breeding pen. By following the instructions in this book, 
the poultryman can avoid mistakes and secure the greatest profit, 
whether raising chicks for market or fancy. It tells where to locate 
and how to manage incubators; what temperature to maintain in brood- 
ers; what foods to feed and how to feed them. If your chicks do not 
live and thrive, consult this book, and learn better methods. It is a 
guide to success. Price, 50 cents, postpaid. 



I r^n 



CONTENTS. 



Air Foul and Filthy Quarters 9 

Air Puff, or Emphysema 72 

Ailments ; Spring 31 

Apoplexy .^^- • 55, 67 

Atrophy 34 

Balancing- Grain, and Vegetables 13 

Black-Rot 52 

Bones ; Broken 70 

Bowel Trouble 63 

Break-down . . 30 

Broken Bones 70 

Broken Shanks 26 

Bronchitis 42 

Brood ; Too Many Chicks in a 9 

Brooder Chicks; Tuberculosis in .32 

Bumble Foot .25 

Bumble Foot; High Roosts Cause 11 

Canker 16, 65 

Catarrh 17 

Chicken Pox 54 

Ch i cks in a Brood ; Too Many 9 

Chicks; Tuberculosis in Brooder 32 

Cholera 38, 62, 69 

Cold in Head 8 

Colds..... 62,71 

Colds in Fowls ; How to Avoid 71 

Combs; The 50, 53 

Combs; White 51 

Condiments in Excess Are Harmful 12 

Constipation 34, 62, 63, 69 

Consumption 46,69 

Cramps 26 

Crop-bound 28 

Crop; Enlarged 29 

Crop; Inflammation of the 29 

Crowding; Overheating from 9 

Diarrhoea 18, 68 

Diet ; Exclusively Grain 14 

Diphtheria 15 

Disease Breeder ; Impure Water a 7 

Douglas Mixture 73 

Drafts and Imperfect Ventilation 9 

Droppings-boards 11 



CONTENTS. 7& 

Dropsy •* 41 

Dropsy of Feet ' 24 

Dysentery 41, 68 

;Eating Feathers 73 

Eczema 54 

Egg-bound 35 

Egg Passage: Inflammation of 36 

Eggs; Soft-Shelled 37 

Emphysema or Air Puff 72 

Emulsion for Lice; Kerosene 73 

Enlarged Crop 29 

Exercise; Right Amount of 10 

Exposure in Shipping 13 

Exposure; Protection from 10 

Eyes Watery * 66 

Eeather Eating 73 

Feeding; Care Required in .10 

Eeet; Dropsy of , .24 

Filthy or Wet Quarters . . : 7, 9 

Fish Skin Disease 24 

Food ; Too Little and Too Much 15 

Foot; Bumble 25 

Eoul Air and Filthy Quarters 9 

Frost Bite 53 

Fungoid 51 

Gapes 57,67 

Gastritis 30 

Grain and Vegetables ; Balancing 13 

Grain Diet Exclusively 14 

Grit; Necessity of 7 

Heat and Cold 8 

Hepatitas or Inflammation 50 

Impure Water a Disease Breeder 7 

Inbreeding and Its Limits 5 

Indigestion 30, 60, 62, 71 

Inflammation or Hepatitas 50 

Inflammation of Egg Passage 36 

Inflammation of the Crop 29 

Injuries 53, 70 

Kerosene Emulsion for Lice 73 

Legs; Scaly 23 

Leg Weakness 25, 69, 72 

Lice 11, 66, 73 

Limber Neck .' . . . 72 

Liver; The . = ; 33, 49 

Lungs; The 42 

Mites .. .K 66, 73 

Molting 70, 73 



MAR 22 190& 

so CONTENTS. 

Neck; Limber 72 

Overheating from Crowding 9 

Paralysis 67 

Peritonitis 35 

Pip > 22, 63 

Pneumonia 44 

Poison ; Safeguards Against 13 

Pox, Chicken 54 

Quarters : Filthy or Wet 7, 9 

Resin for Colds; Smoking 71 

Rheumatism 27, 69 

Rot; Black 52 

Roundworm ; The 56 

Roup 19, 21, 65 

Scaly Legs 23 

Shade from Sun; Lack of .10 

Shanks; Broken 26 

Skin Disease 24 

Sleepiness 66 

Soft-Shelled Eggs 37 

Spring Ailments 31 

Staggers 67 

Sunshine 12 

Sun; Lack of Shade from 10 

Symptoms 61 

Tapeworm 57, 70 

Torn Side 70 

Tuberculosis 47 

Tuberculosis in Brooder Chicks 32 

Vaseline for Colds : 71 

Vegetables ; Balancing Grain and 13 

Ventilation ; Drafts and Imperfect 9 

Water a Disease Breeder; Impure 7 

Watery Eyes 66 

Weakness; Leg 25, 69, 72 

Wet Quarters ; Filthy or 7 

White Comb 51 

Worms 56, 57, 68, 70 




